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I 



MAJOB GENERAL 



WILLIAM T. SHERMAN, 



CAMPAIGNS. 



By Rev. F. SENOUR, 

AUTHOR OF " MORGAN AND HIS CAPTORS," " THE CHRISTIAN 
SOLDIER," ETC. 




■ I cannot say a word too highly in praise of General Sherman's 
services, from the beginning of the rebellion to the present day. 
Suffice it to say, the world's history gives no record of his superiors, 
and but few equals. 

"U. S. Grant, Lieut. Gen'l." 



CHICAGO: 
HENRY M. SHERWOOD, PUBLISHER. 

1865. 






Entered according to Act of Congress. In the year 1865, 

By Rev. F. SENOUR, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, 
for the Northern District of Illinois. 






DEDICATION 



TO THE 

BRAVE OFFICERS AND SOLDIERS 

WHO FOLLOWED 

THEIR NOBLE LEADER, 

m lltajor (lateral WLillranx JL Hljermmr, 

THROUGH 

LONG MARCHES AND HARD-FOUGHT BATTLES, 

AND WHO HAVE 

CROWNED THEMSELVES WITH GLORY, 

THIS WORK IS 

MOST RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE 



( Never name your child after a living man," said a very 
wise man to the author of this volume. As we do not 
know what the future of any man will be, it may be un- 
wise to honor him by giving his name to your child. For 
a similar reason, it may be injudicious to write the history 
of a living man. 

Whatever the future history of General W. T. Sherman 
may be, the world witnesseth that he has carved out for 
himself a name and a place in history, and won a home in 
the hearts of his countrymen, that can never be blotted 
out. It is our hope and prayer to God, that no act of his 
in the future may tarnish his great name and heroic deeds. 

It is because General Sherman has occupied so promi- 
nent a place in many of the most important and stirring 
scenes of the great war against the rebellion, that we have 
endeavored to cull the most important facts and incidents, 
and make as full and fair a record of them as can now be 
done, in order that as little as possible of valuable history 
may be lost to posterity. 



VI PREFACE. 

It may be said that the time has not yet come to write a 
history of our generals and the war. We reply, that wo 
desire only to put on record events still fresh in our mem- 
ory, leaving to the Bancroft of the future the task of 
writing a true and philosophical history of the war. If we 
aid the future historian, we shall not feel that we have 
labored in vain. 

We have endeavored to tell our story in plain Saxon, 
and with such perspicuity as will enable the simplest mind 
to read and understand. That we have exhausted the 
subjects introduced in this volume, is not pretended. We 
have omitted much that we would have been glad to havo 
put on record. It would take a volume larger than this to 
record every event of any one of Sherman's great cam 
paigns. The most that we could do was to unite the great 
outlines of his history. 

In preparing this work, we have made free use of what- 
ever material has fallen into our hands, separating, as 
best we could, the wheat from the chaff. That we have 
succeeded in making wise discriminations, must be left to 
the judgment and the leniency of the reader. 

We had access to official reports and documents, which 
have greatly aided us. And here we wish to acknowledge 
our indebtedness to various letter writers, correspondents 
of public journals, and to all who have imparted oral in- 
formation to us. Without this aid, we could not have 
written this book. 

And now we place this work in the hands of our gen- 
erous fellow-countrymen, trusting that it may be a source 



PREFACE. Vll 

of pleasure and profit to those who read it, and serve 
a purpose in preserving great events, and honoring the 
brave soldiers and their great leader, whose deeds of glory 
are herein recorded — that it may keep alive the fires of 
patriotism in the hearts of our countrymen, and illustrate 
the wonderful providence of Grod in preserving our national 
life 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S EARLY HISTORY. 

PAG1. 

Introductory Remarks — Parentage and Birth of Sherman — 
Death of his Father — Hon. Thomas Ewing and his Friend- 
ship — Appointed a Cadet at West Point — Graduated — His 
Rank — Enters the Service of the United States — In the 
Florida War — At Fort Moultrie — In California — Promo- 
tion — In the Commissary Department — Military Post of 
New Orleans — Resignation and Return to California — 
President of a Military Academy in Louisiana — Opposes 
Secession — Resignation as President — Incidents — A Re- 
markable Law Firm 15 

CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

The Politicians' Battle — General Scott — Strength of the 
Army — The Divisions — An Imposing Scene — Confidence 
of the People — Generals McDowell and Tyler — Centreville 
and Manassas — Position of the Divisions of the Army — 
The Moonlight March to Battle— Plan of the Battle — The 
Irish Regiment — Part taken by Sherman's Brigade — The 
Retreat and Panic — Sherman at Fort Corcoran — Appointed 



X CONTENTS. 

Page. 
a Brigadier — In Command of the Department of the Cum- 
berland — Relieved — At Sedalia and Benton Barracks — At 
Paducah — Incidents 31 

CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING. 

The Battle of Pittsburg Landing the Most Desperate and De- 
cisive of the War — The Troops Engaged — Skirmishing — 
Battle Opens — Surprise of Union Troops — Sunday's Fight 
— The Union Troops Driven from their Camps — The Lex- 
ington and Tyler — The Part taken by them — Lew. Wallace's 
and Buell's Forces Arrive — Monday's Operations — Cavalry 
Charge by Grant — Pursuit by Sherman — Grant's Opinion 
of Sherman — The Part taken by Sherman and his Divi- 
sion — Extract from Halleck's Report — Sherman a Major 
General — The Opinions of Distinguished Generals — Inci- 
dents — Sherman's Letter to Professor Coppee 52 

CHAPTER IV. 

SHERMAN AND THE SIEGE OP CORINTH. 

March Towards Corinth — Skirmishing at Monterey and 
Purdy — Siege of Corinth Commences — Battle of Russell's 
House — Evacuation of Corinth — Occupation of the City by 
the Union Troops — Pursuit by General M. L. Smith to 
Tuscumbia Creek — Sherman's Congratulatory Order — In- 
cidents — Takes Possession of Holly Springs — Appointed 
Military Commander of Memphis, Tennessee 84 

CHAPTER V. 

SHERMAN AND THE CAMPAIGNS AGAINST VICKSBURG. 

Preparations for the Vicksburg Campaign — Sherman's Com- 
mand Sails for Vicksburg — Arrival at Johnston's Land- 
ing — First Assault upon Vicksburg — McClernand takes 



CONTENTS. XI 

Page 
Command — Sherman's Congratulatory Order to his Troops 

— Capture of Arkansas Post — Steele's Bayou Expedition — 
Feint on the North of Vicksburg — Fight at Fourteen Mile 
Creek — Advance upon Jackson — Occupation of the City — 
Battle of Big Black River — Takes Possession of Walnut 
Hills — Second Assault upon Vicksburg — Surrender — Oc- 
cupation — Pursuit after Johnston — Second Occupation of 
Jackson — Recommended by General Grant for Promotion 
as Brigadier General of Regular Army 107 

CHAPTER VI. 

Sherman's great march to Chattanooga, and the battles of 
missionary ridge and lookout mountain. 

Brief Rest of Sherman's Command — Starts for Chattanooga — 
Narrow Escape of Sherman — The Fight at Cane Creek — 
Takes Command of the Army of the Tennessee — Arrives at 
Chattanooga — Battle Before Chattanooga — First Day's Bat- 
tle — Second Day — Battle of Lookout Mountain, Third 
Day — Account of an Eye Witness of the Battle of Tunnel 
Hill — Battle of Missionary Ridge — Incidents 135 

CHAPTER VII. 

SHERMAN AND THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE, AND THE EXPEDITION 
THROUGH MISSISSIPPI. 

Pursuit of the Enemy after the Battle of Missionary Ridge — 
March to Knoxville to Relieve Burnside — Returns to Chat- 
tanooga — At Memphis — Letter of Sherman — Expedition 
through Mississippi — Incident 153 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Sherman's great campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. 

Sherman Appointed the Successor of Grant — Tour of Inspec- 
tion and Plan of the Campaign — Commencement of the 



Xll CONTENTS. 

Pagb. 
Campaign — Strength of the Army — The Strength of the 

Enemy — Position of our Forces on the 6th of May — The 

Enemy Flanked out of their Position at Dalton — The Battle 

of Resaca — The Result — Incidents 167 



CHAPTER IX. 
Sherman's great campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. 

The Pursuit of the Enemy — Their Wounded — Order of the 
Pursuit — An Ambuscade — Fighting and Skirmishing — An 
Account by an Eye- Witness — Capture of Rome, Kingston 
and Cassville — Guerrilla Operations — Movement across 
the Etowah — Skirmishing — Loss of Wagons — The Gal- 
lant Action of the 25th — Another Ambuscade — Sherman's 
Object — A Furious Assault — Occupation of Dallas — The 
Situation on June 1st — Sherman's Strategy — The Enemy 
Abandoned their Works — Sherman's Dispatch — What the 
Army had Accomplished — Character of Sherman — 
Incidents 194 

CHAPTER X. 

Sherman's great campaign from Chattanooga to Atlanta. 

Operations of the Army from June 7th to the Capture of 
Atlanta — Sherman's Report — Efforts to Break the Enemy's 
Lines Between Kenesaw and Pine Mountains — Death of 
General Polk — McPherson's Operations — Two Direct 
Assaults — Kenesaw Abandoned — The Pursuit — Pass- 
age of the Chattahoochee — The Battle of the 20th — John- 
ston Relieved — Attack on our Right — Positions of our 
Forces — Sudden Attack — Death of McPherson — Grand 
Movement of the Right Flank — Kilpatrick's Operations — 
Sherman's Flank Movement and the Capture of Atlanta — 
Bombardment of Atlanta — Sherman's Congratulatory Order.. 218 



CONTENTS Xlll 

Page 
CHAPTER XI. 

Sherman's great campaign from chattanooga to Atlanta. 

Additional Accounts of the Campaign — The Value of this 
Chapter — Campaign Reviewed by a Distinguished General.. 237 

CHAPTER XII. 

SHERMAN AND THE OCCUPATION OP ATLANTA. 

Sherman a Military Genius — Opinions of his Campaign — The 
London Times and London Star — Measures for Holding 
Atlanta — Citizens Ordered from Atlanta — Sherman and 
Hood — Their Correspondence — An Atlanta Exile — Perma- 
nent Occupation Intended — Operations of Forrest and 
Others — Hood's Northern Movement — Attack and Repulse 
at Altoona — The Pursuit — Hood Crosses the Tennessee — 
Sherman's Plans — Battles of Franklin and Nashville — 
Sherman Returns to Atlanta — A Facetious Letter 262 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Sherman's grand march from Atlanta to savannah. 

Movement Towards Atlanta — Preparations for the March — 
The Army — Orders of Sherman and Slocum — Concen- 
tration of Forces — The "Gate City" Burned — Communi- 
cations Cut Off — Under a Cloud — The Enemy Deceived — 
The Rebel Press — The General Lines of the March — Pro- 
gress of the Army — Fight at Griswoldville — Encamped on 
Howell Cobb's Farm — Milledgeville Occupied — Incident — 
March to Millen and Savannah — Scouts Sent Out — 
Howard's Dispatch to the Navy — Fort McAllister Cap- 
tured — Journal of the March — Investment and Capture of 
Savannah — Poetry — Sherman's Orders — Correspondence 

— British Consul at Savannah 296 

B 



XIV CONTENTS. 

Page. 
CHAPTER XIV. 

Sherman's campaign in the carolinas. 

The Consummation of the Great Plan — Movements of the Two 
Wings of the Army, Under Howard and Slocum — Transfer 
of the Forts and City to General Foster — Capture of Fort 
Fisher by Porter and Terry — Determination of Sherman — 
Strategy a + the Salkehatchie — Wading Through Deep 
Water — Pursuit of the Enemy to Branchville — Destruction 
of the Railroad— Official Report of Sherman — Fall of 
Charleston — Horrors of the Evacuation — Incidents 361 

CHAPTER XV. 
Sherman's campaign in the carolinas. 
In the Heart of North Carolina — Results of the Campaign — 
The Sentinels — Davis and an English Paper — Advance of 
Sherman and Retreat of the Enemy — Effect of the Capture 
of Richmond — Fall of Richmond, and Surrender of Lee's 
Army — Cooperation of Sherman — Memorandum or Agree- 
ment Between Sherman and Johnston — Special Order of 
Sherman — Disapproval of the Agreement by the Cabinet — 
Grant Sent to North Carolina — Result of his Mission — 
Explanation of Sherman's Course — Remarks 406 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Sherman's official report and farewell address. 
The March by Way of Richmond to Washington — The Grand 
Military Review — Official Report and Farewell Address 431 



GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

HIS LIFE AND CAMPAIGNS. 



CHAPTER I. 

GEN. SHERMAN'S EARLY HISTORY. 

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS — PARENTAGE AND BIRTH OF 

SHERMAN DEATH OE HIS FATHER HON. THOMAS 

EWING AND HIS FRIENDSHIP APPOINTED A CADET 

AT WEST POINT GRADUATED HIS RANK ENTERS 

THE SERVICE OF THE UNITED STATES IN THE FLO- 
RIDA WAR AT FORT MOULTRIE IN CALIFORNIA 

PROMOTION IN THE COMMISSARY DEPARTMENT 

MILITARY POST OF NEW ORLEANS RESIGNATION 

AND RETURN TO CALIFORNIA — PRESIDENT OF A MIL- 
ITARY ACADEMY IN LOUISIANA — OPPOSES SECESSION 
— RESIGNATION AS PRESIDENT — INCIDENTS — A RE- 
MARKABLE LAW FIRM. 

At the commencement of the civil war in our 
country, the want of well known and able military 
leaders, placed our Government in a most embar- 
rassing situation. It was well known that the 
noble old military hero, General Winneld Scott, 
was too infirm to command our armies, and lead 
them on to victory after victory, until the flag of 



16 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Washington, which had been struck down by trai- 
tors, should again wave over every inch of the ter- 
ritory that rightly belonged to the Government. 

One leader after another was selected, and each, 
in his turn, was hailed as a hero by the people, 
until bitter experience taught them to call no man 
a hero before he had proved himself worthy of 
that title, by heroic achievements on the field of 
conflict. As one general after another failed, the 
people became anxious, and prayed that God would 
raise up men who would lead our brave armies on 
to victory and glory. These prayers were an- 
swered. In Generals Grant, Sherman, Thomas, 
and Sheridan, the people recognize the men for 
whom they looked and prayed. While all these 
men have acted well and nobly their part, and 
have covered themselves with imperishable glory, 
none of them have done more to make a name 
in history, and to be remembered by a free and 
grateful posterity, than Major General William 
Tecumseh Sherman. 

General Sherman is the son of Hon. Charles R. 
Sherman, once a Judge of the Supreme Court of 
the State of Ohio; and a brother of the Hon. John 
Sherman, United States Senator from the same 
State. He was born in Lancaster, Ohio, on the 
eighth day of February, A. D. 1820. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 17 

Judge Sherman died when "William, his present 
distinguished son was only eight years of age. 
During the lifetime of the Judge, he was a warm 
friend Of the Hon. Thomas Ewing, of Ohio. That 
honorable gentleman heartily reciprocated and ap- 
preciated his friendship. After his death, he took 
his son William to his home, and treated him as 
one of his family, and secured to him important 
educational advantages. Through his influence, 
young Sherman was undoubtedly, admitted into 
the Military Academy at West Point, as a cadet 
appointed from the State of Ohio. This important 
event took place in the year 1836, when he was 
about sixteen years of age. He pursued the cur- 
riculum of studies, prescribed and required by that 
institution, with credit and honor to himself, until 
the 30th of June, 1840, when he was graduated, 
ranking sixth, in a class of forty-two members. 

The day after Sherman was graduated, at West 
Point, he entered the regular service of the United 
States, and was appointed to the office of Second 
Lieutenant of artillery, and was connected with 
the Third Eegiment. His services, in this office, 
were of such a character as to secure for him, 
within a few months, promotion to the rank of 
First Lieutenant. 

Lieutenant Sherman and his company were en- 
gaged in the Florida war with the Indians. He 



18 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

soon became well known as a strategist, and 
distinguished for prompt movements and rapid 
marching. 

In the year 1841, Sherman was ordered to Fort 
Moultrie, in Charleston harbor, which fort has 
since become quite famous in the early history of 
the rebellion. 

In the year 1846, Lieutenant Sherman was sent 
to California, where he was appointed to the posi- 
tion of an acting assistant adjutant general. He 
administered the affairs of his office with so much 
ability, that Congress, in March, 1851, appointed 
him a brevet captain in the regular army, to date 
from May 30th, 1848, " for meritorious service in 
California during the war with Mexico." 

In the year 1850, Sherman was appointed a Com- 
missary of Subsistence, with the rank of captain, 
and was connected with the department of the 
West, his headquarters being at St. Louis. Sub- 
sequently, he was ordered to the military post at 
New Orleans, where he had the opportunity of be- 
coming acquainted with many Southern people, 
their political views and institutions. This knowl- 
edge has since been of great value to him and the 
Government. 

In the year 1853, Sherman resigned his office in 
the United States army, and removed to Califor- 
nia, where he was connected with the well known 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 19 

banking house of Lucas, Turner & Co., of San 
Francisco, for a period of about four years. While 
in that position, he acquired a good reputation as 
a business man. Here he had a connection with 
the State military organizations, and took an ac- 
tive part in suppressing the lawless mobs that once 
disgraced that city. 

Sherman returned to the States, practiced law in 
Kansas, and afterwards was appointed President 
of the Military Academy of the State of Louisiana, 
where he trained not a few of the men whom he 
has since fought and conquered. 

In the autumn of 1860, when the secession move- 
ment commenced in the Southern States, many and 
strong inducements were offered to him to unite 
his destiny with the cause of the South, but they 
were all in vain. On the 26th of January, 1861, 
the Convention of the State of Louisiana passed 
the ordinance of secession; whereupon, Sherman 
tendered to the State of Louisiana his resignation 
as President of the Military School, and at once 
proceeded North, to the city of St. Louis, Mo. In 
fact, Sherman personally had given notice of his 
intention to resign, in the event that Louisiana 
seceded. 

The following is a true copy of his letter of 
resignation : 



20 

January 18th, 1860. 
Gov. Thomas 0. Moore, 

Baton Rouge, Louisiana. 

Sir : As I occupy a quasi-military position under this State, 
I deem it proper to acquaint you, that I accepted such position, 
when Louisiana was a State in the Union ; and when the motto of 
the Seminary was inserted in marble, over the main door, " By 
the liberality of the General Government of the United States." 
The Union Esto Perpetua. 

" Recent events foreshadow a great change, and it becomes all 
men to choose. If Louisiana withdraws from the Federal Union, 
I prefer to maintain my allegiance to the old Constitution as long 
as a fragment of it survives ; and my longer stay here would be 
wrong in every sense of the word. In that event, I beg you will 
send, or appoint some authorized agent to take charge of the 
arms and munitions of war here, belonging to the State, or direct 
me what disposition should be made of them. 

"And furthermore, as President of Board of Supervisors, I 
beg you to take immediate steps to relieve me as Superintendent 
the moment the State determines to secede ; for on no earthly ac- 
count will I do any act, or think any thought, hostile to or in de- 
fiance of the old Government of the United States. 
"With Great Respect, &c, 

» W. T. SHERMAN." 

INCIDENTS. 

"When Sherman was a member of the Hon. 
Mr. E wing's family, it is said that, with childlike 
simplicity, he would sometimes speak of a little 
daughter of that gentleman as " his sweetheart." 
" Coming events cast their shadows before." In 
the year 1850, Captain W. T. Sherman and Miss 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 21 

Ellen E. Ewing were united in the bonds of mat- 
rimony. 

In the beginning of the secession excitement, 
before the election of 1860, and when Sherman 
was President of the Military Academy, in Louis- 
iana, a party of secessionists approached him, for 
the purpose of inducing him to unite with the 
South in the rebellion, when, it is said, the follow- 
ing conversation took place : 

" Gentlemen, " said Sherman, " while I am in 
the South, I shall do nothing, and say nothing, in 
opposition to the Southern interests; but I will 
never join in any movement that may lead to an 
armed resistance to the authority of the United 
States. I have fought under the ' Stars and Stripes ' 
too long to be induced to raise my hand for its 
downfall." 

" Mr. Sherman," replied one of the party, " we 
have no intention to go to war with the United 
States. We have so divided the North that if the 
Abolitionists should even elect the next President, 
we can so cripple his power that he can do nothing 
to resist a secession of the Gulf States, and the 
establishment of a separate Government." 

"If you suppose, gentlemen," said Sherman, 
" that the North will allow any portion of this glo- 
rious Union to be severed from the remainder, you 
will find yourselves mistaken. I tell you it will 



22 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

lead to war, and a cruel war ; but the Union must 
be kept intact." 

' But our slaves ? " 

" When it is a question of preserving the unity 
of the country, slavery and all other abstract prin- 
ciples will have to succumb. Your very supporters 
in the North will turn against you, and will fly to 
arms to preserve the honor of their flag, and the 
integrity of the Union. Gentlemen, you have my 
answer." 

As the party left the presence of Sherman, the 
following conversation occurred among themselves : 

" I do not like to trust that man. I do not be- 
lieve he is true to the cause of the South." 

" I think you are mistaken," replied another one 
of the party. " He speaks plainly and fearlessly, 
which shows that he is not afraid of us. I would 
rather trust an outspoken man like that, than all the 
oily, sneaking fellows, whose remarks are fair to our 
face, yet who, for a few dollars, would betray our 
very wives to our enemies. "When the time comes, 
and he sees we are likely to separate from the North 
in reality, he will readily join us. Besides," con- 
tinued the speaker, " he is too good an officer for 
us to part with, if we can only retain him with 
us." 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 23 

The following extract will be read with interest, 
as giving a part of the history of this remarkable 
man: 

A REMARKABLE LAW FIRM, AND A QUARTETTE OP 

GENERALS. 

[From the Leavenworth Conservative.] 

Citizens of Leavenworth will remember that 
there stood, on Main street, between Delaware and 
Shawnee, in 1857-8-9, on the ground now occupied 
by handsome brick buildings, a shabby looking, 
tumbling, cottonwood shell. It was occupied, on 
the ground floor, by Hampton P. Denman, ex- 
Mayor, as a land agency oflice. The rooms above 
were reached by a crazy looking stairway on the 
outside, up which none ever went without dread of 
their falling. Dingy signs informed the curious 
that within was a "law shop," kept by Hugh 
Ewing, Thomas Ewing, Jr., "W. T. Sherman, and 
Daniel McCook. These constituted the firm known 
here as Ewing, Sherman & McCook. All were 
comparatively young men. All were ambitious; 
the one who has gained the greatest fame, perhaps, 
the least so of the associated lawyers. The Ewings 
had the advantage of high culture, considerable 
natural abilities, cold, impressive temperaments, 
and a powerful family influence, to aid their aspi- 
rations. Hugh Ewing was but little known here- 
abouts, though acknowledged to be a brilliant and 



24 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

versatile genius by his friends. "Young Tom," 
as the other scion is familiarly called, has always 
been a prominent and influential man. 

The third member of the firm fills, to-day, one 
of the proudest pages in the history of our land. 
His name and fame take rank with the greatest of 
earth. All conspire to do him honor. Aliens bow 
to his genius, and enemies show the extent of their 
fears of its power, by the virulence of their hate 
and its manifestations. 

"W. T. Sherman never mingled in our public 
affairs. He lived among us for several months, 
having some landed interests here. An outlying 
part of our city plat is marked on the maps as " Sher- 
man's Addition." Prior to entering upon the prac- 
tice of the law in this city, he lived for some time 
in the vicinity of Topeka, upon a farm of 160 acres, 
which we believe he still owns. His neighbors tell 
of his abrupt manner ; reserved, yet forcible speech 
and character. Previous to his residing in Kansas, 
Sherman had lived in California, where, as a miner, 
banker, and lawyer, he made and lost a large for- 
tune. A graduate of "West Point, he had previously 
held a captain's commission in the Topographical 
Engineer Corps, and, in pursuance of duty, had 
made several important surveys and explorations, 
the reports of which had been duly published Vy 



ASTD HIS CAMPAIGNS. 25 

the Government. They relate principally to routes 
for the Pacific Railroad. 

The fourth member of the firm, Daniel McCook, 
was known and appreciated here by the fraternity 
as one of the best of " good fellows." He was 
young, active, ardent, an intense partisan and am- 
bitious wight, who held the tolerable good opinion 
of his capacity — common to the " pin -feather" 
state of the genus homo. " Dan." practiced law be- 
fore the lower courts, doing the justice and pro- 
bate, and always having plenty of work in the 
United States District Court, which was often the 
scene of amusing sparring between him and the 
Judge — the able, but indecent Petit — whose, judg- 
ments Dan. was in the habit of freely criticising. 

All of the firm were "Buckeyes," the Ewings 
being the sons of the able and venerable Hon. 
Thomas Ewing, of that State. Sherman is con- 
nected with them by marriage. He is a brother 
of Senator Sherman. McCook belonged to the 
since famous " fighting" family of that name. His 
father was the well known Major McCook, who 
was killed in the Ohio Morgan raid. One brother 
was killed at the first Bull Run battle. Another 
was the Brigadier General McCook, murdered by 
guerrillas in Tennessee. Another brother or uncle, 
we know not which, is the famous Major General 
c 



26 

McCook, of the armies of the Cumberland and 
Tennessee. 

In politics, the firm were unequally proportioned 
— Thomas Ewing, Jr., being a conservative Repub- 
lican, while his brother Hugh, Sherman, and 
McCook, were all Democrats, the latter being an 
active local politician, and, at one time, elected 
Probate Judge of this county. The city being 
then largely Democratic, and somewhat pro-slavery, 
the firm possessed considerable influence. 

A good story is told of Sherman's experience as 
counsel, and of his dissolution of partnership to 
take the position held by him when the war broke 
out — that of the Military College of Louisiana. 

While in the practice of the law here, Sherman 
was consulting partner, having an almost insur- 
mountable objection to pleading in court. He is 
accorded the possession, as a lawyer, of a thorough 
knowledge of legal principles ; a clear, logical per- 
ception of the points and equity involved in any 
case. He could present his views in the most di- 
rect manner, stripped of all verbiage, yet perfectly 
accurate in form. He was perfectly an fait in the 
authorities. 

But to return to our story. Shortly after the re- 
ception of the oflfer from the Governor of Louis- 
iana, in relation to the college, Sherman was 
compelled to appear before the Probate Judge — 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 27 

Gardner, we believe. The other partners were 
busy, and Sherman, with his authorities and the 
case all mapped out, proceeded to court. He re- 
turned in a rage two hours after. Something had 
gone wrong. He had been pettifogged out of the 
case by a sharp petty attorney opposed to him, in a 
way which was disgusting to his intellect and his 
convictions. His amour fro-pre was hurt, and he 
swore that he would have nothing more to do with 
the law in this State. That afternoon, the business 
was closed, partnership dissolved, and in a very 
short time Sherman was on his way to a more con- 
genial clime and occupation. The war found him 
'in Louisiana, and, in despite of his strong pro- 
slavery opinions, found him an intense and devoted 
patriot. 

"We met him here, and, though but slightly ac- 
quainted, have remembered ever since the impres- 
sion he left on our mind. He sphered himself to 
our perception as the most remarkable intellectual 
embodiment of force it had been our fortune to en- 
counter. Once since we met him, in our lines be- 
fore Corinth, where he had command of the right 
wing of Halleck's magnificent army. The same 
impression was given then, combined with the idea 
of nervous vitality, angularity of character, and 
intense devotion to what he had in hand. Sherman 
is truly an idealist, even to fanaticism, though, in 



28 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN 



all probability, if told so, be would retort back an 
unbelieving sarcasm. He outlines himself to our 
memory as a man of middle stature, nervous, mus- 
cular frame, with a long, keen head, sharply defined 
from the forehead, and back of the ears. His eyes 
have an introverted look, but full of smouldering 
fire. His mouth is sharp and well cut ; the lower 
part of the face powerful, though not heavy. His 
complexion fair, hair and beard of a sandy red, 
straight, short, and strong. His temperament is 
nervous - sanguine, and he is full of crochets and 
prejudices, which, however, never stand in the way 
of practical results. The idea, or rather object, 
which rules him, for the time, overrides everything 
else. Round the mouth, we remember a gleam of 
saturnine humor, and in the eyes a look of kind- 
ness, which would attract to him the caresses of 
children. 

Such are the impressions left on our mind by 
the only military educated member of this legal 
quartette — all of whom have held commissions as 
generals in the army. 

Hugh Ewing went early into the war, as Colonel 
of an Ohio regiment, to which State he had re- 
turned before the rebellion. He was soon promo- 
ted to a Brigadiership. He has served honorably 
through most of the campaigns in the central south. 
He has been wounded more than once. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 29 

Dan Mc Cook's name has passed into history, as 
one of the most gallant young lives offered as a 
sacrifice to secure American nationality. He was, 
we think, the second captain mustered in from this 
State, in the veteran First Kansas, as early as the 
beginning of May, 1861. He was all through its 
famous Missouri campaign, under Lyon. His 
friends here remember the jubilant expression to 
which his ambition gave vent, when he first left for 
the field : " Here's for a colonel's epaulettes, or a 
soldier's grave." He knew not how prophetic was 
the utterance. He won the first, and more, and 
the latter is now his lasting inheritance of fame. 
After the regiment returned to Kansas, in the Fall 
of 1861, Captain Dan was placed on staff duty, we 
believe, with one of the Generals McCook, then 
in Kentucky. Soon after, he was prostrated with 
sickness. On recovering, he raised, and com- 
manded the Fifty-Second Ohio. For a long time 
he was acting Brigadier, participating through all 
Rosecrans' famous campaigns in Tennessee. He 
was wounded, and after promotion as Brigadier, 
returned to Ohio sick, where he died. 

"As man may, he fought his fight, 
Proved his truth by his endeavor ; 
Let him sleep in solemn night, 
Sleep forever, and forever." 



30 

The remaining member of the firm, Genera] 
Thomas Ewing, Jr., is too well known to need par- 
ticularizing by ns. The war found him our Chief 
Justice. In the summer of 1862, he resigned, 
raised the Eleventh Regiment, became its colonel, 
and participated in all the engagements of the 
Army of the Frontier, during the following Fall and 
Winter. He was afterward promoted to a Briga- 
diership, and has since been in command of the 
"Western Missouri and Kansas District. He has, 
for over a year, been in command of the District 
of Southeast Missouri, with St. Louis as headquar- 
ters, where he is popular. His undoubted admin- 
istrative ability comes into play there. The defense 
of, and retreat from, Pilot Knob, during the late 
campaign, reflect great credit upon his skill and 
courage as a soldier. 

Taking it all in all, the legal military firm, of 
which we have been giving these random notes, is 
one of the most remarkable proofs of the versatil- 
ity and adaptability of the American character, 
that the war, fruitful as it has been in examples, has 
yet produced. 



CHAPTER II. 

GENERAL SHAMAN AND THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN. 

THE POLITICIAN' BATTLE GEN. SCOTT STRENGTH OP 

THE ARMY — THE DIVISIONS AN IMPOSING SCENE 

CONFIDENCE OF THE PEOPLE GENERALS MCDOWELL 

AND TYLER- — CENTREVILLE AND MANASSAS POSITION 

OF THE DIVISIONS OF THE ARMY THE MOONLIGHT 

MARCH TO BATTLE PLAN OF THE BATTLE THE IRISH 

REGIMENT PART TAKEN BY SHERMAN'S BRIGADE 

THE RETREAT AND PANIC SHERMAN AT FORT CORCO- 
RAN APPOINTED A BRIGADIER IN COMMAND OF THE 

DEPARTMENT OF THE CUMBERLAND RELIEVED AT 

SEDALIA AND BENTON BARRACKS AT PADUCAH 

INCIDENTS. 

Before giving the history of the part taken by 
Colonel, now General Sherman, in the battle of 
Buli Rim, it may be necessary to make a few pre- 
liminary statements, that we may have a clearer 
understanding of what that gallant officer did, in 
that most remarkable battle of the Rebellion. 

That battle ought to be called the " politicians' 
battle." Politicians most clamorously urged the 
President and the Cabinet, and pressed General 
Scott to attack the enemy, then in a position of his 
own choosing. The incessant cry of these men, in 



32 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

• which, the political newspapers of the day joined, 
was " On to Richmond ! On to Richmond ! " Mili- 
tary science was derided. The wise policy, and 
military sagacity of General Scott, were ridiculed, 
and that old hero and true patriot, was even accused 
of being "unwilling" to invade his native State. 
Had he not moved on the enemy, and " on to Rich- 
mond," he would have been called a disloyal man. 
The pressure was too great to be resisted. It was 
resolved that the army should move. Accordingly, 
on the 17th day of July, 1861, our army of raw 
and undisciplined troops, marched forward to fight 
the "politicians' battle ; " while they, the politicians, 
were very careful to keep themselves at a respectful 
distance from the smell of powder. 

The army, about forty thousand strong, marched 
in live divisions. The first division was command- 
ed by General Tyler, of the Connecticut militia ; 
the second, by Colonel Hunter ; the third, by Colo- 
nel Heintzelman, of the regular army ; the fourth, 
by Colonel Runyon ; and the fifth, by Colonel Miles. 
The whole army was commanded by Brigadier Gen- 
eral Irwin Mc Dowell. Each division was composed 
of three brigades. Colonel W. T. Sherman com- 
manded the third brigade of the first division. 

The march of this great army, was an imposing 
scene ; such as had never before been witnessed by 
the men of this generation. The most unbounded 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 33 

enthusiasm prevailed throughout the country. But 
few of the people of the North dreamed of defeat 
and disaster. Here, and there, a man might he 
found who helieved that our first great battle would 
not be a victory. They looked at the war, not from 
a human stand-point, or in the light of man's wis- 
dom, — but in the light of God's providence, firmly 
believing that God, who governs the affairs of men, 
and nations, intended, by this war, to establish more 
firmly, the great principles which lie at the founda- 
tion of our beneficent government, and secure to 
every man who puts his foot upon our soil, the ines- 
timable boon of Freedom. A protracted war 
seemed necessary, to produce this grand result. 

The army marched on, driving back the enemy's 
pickets, until the main column entered Fairfax, and 
encamped for the night. 

General McDowell ordered General Tyler to 
proceed to Centreville, and carefully observe all 
the approaches to that place. On the 18th, without 
orders from General McDowell, Tyler pushed on to 
Bull Run, at Blackburn's Ford, and commenced 
throwing shells at the enemy. An artillery duel 
followed, which resulted in the withdrawal of our 
batteries. Great fault has been found with this 
movement, as it might have resulted in bringing on 
a general engagement prematurely, and while the 
army was on the march. It, however, had the good 



34 

effect to reveal the fact that the enemy were too 
strong on their right wing, to make the attack at 
that point. 

On the evening of the 20th, the army was mostly 
at, or near, Centreville. The enemy was at Man- 
assas, ahont seven miles south-west of Centreville. 
The road from Centreville to Manassas Junction, is 
on a ridge, which runs nearly a north and south 
course. The distance from Centreville to Bull Run, 
along this road, is about three miles. The Warren- 
ton turnpike runs nearly east and west over this 
ridge, and through the village of Centreville, and 
crosses Bull Run, about four miles distant from this 
point. General Tyler's division was stationed on 
the north side of "Warrcnton turnpike, and on the 
eastern slope of the Centreville ridge. Two bri- 
gades were stationed on the north side of the same 
road, a mile and a half in advance, to the west of 
the ridge, and one brigade on the road from Cen- 
treville to Manassas, where it crosses Bull Run, at 
Blackburn's Ford. The second division, command- 
ed by Colonel Hunter, was on the Warrenton turn- 
pike, one mile east of Centreville. The third divi- 
sion, commanded by Colonel Heintzelman, was on 
the Old Braddock Road, south-east of the village 
about a mile and a half. The fifth division, under 
Colonel Miles, was on this same road, between the 
positioi of the third division, and Centreville. The 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 35 

fourth division, commanded by Colonel Runyon, 
was placed about seven miles in the rear of Centre- 
ville, for the purpose of guarding our communica- 
tions by way of Vienna, and the Orange and Alex- 
andria Railroad. 

General McDowell having perfected his plans 
and arrangements to commence the battle, orders 
were given to march. The movement was delayed 
two hours or more, owing to the failure of the first 
division to get out of its camp, on the road. This 
delay had no little influence on the final result of 
the battle. About four o'clock in the morning, 
July 21st, the divisions commenced moving. It 
was a beautiful and bright moonlight night. The 
stillness that brooded over the grand old forests 
around, was unbroken, except by the muffled tread 
of soldiers, and the rumbling noise of artillery car- 
riages. The divisions, separating like the rays of a 
fan, moved away to the parts of the field assigned 
to them. Colonel Richardson, with his brigade, 
moved to Blackburn's Ford, on the extreme left, 
for the purpose of presenting the appearance of an 
attack from that quarter, and guarding against a 
flank movement of the enemy, if it should be 
undertaken. 

General Tyler moved with Sherman's and 
Schenck's brigades, and Ayres' and Carlisle's bat- 
teries, down the Warrenton turnpike, to the bridge, 



'66 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

on Bull Run, for the purpose of protecting that 
point, and presenting the appearance of an attack 
on the front and centre of the enemy In the 
meantime, Hunter, with his division, was moving 
to a ford, which was unguarded, about ten miles up 
Bull Run, for the purpose of crossing over the 
stream, and making a sudden attack on the enemy, 
turning his left wing, and driving him down the 
stream, which runs in a south-eastern direction. 
He was closely followed by the division of Heint- 
zelman, who was to take a position at a ford, three 
miles up the stream, above the bridge. The road 
along which he was to march to the position 
assigned, was found to have no existence, except 
upon the map. He, therefore, followed along after 
Hunter's division, and reached the ford at Dudley 
Springs, at eleven o'clock, just as the last brigade, 
of Hunter's division, was entering the water, to 
cross over Bull Run. Just at this time, clouds of 
dust, from the direction of Manassas, indicated 
the immediate approach of a large force. The 
enemy, by some means, had discovered the move- 
ment of our army. From high points of observa- 
tion large masses of troops could be seen moving 
rapidly towards the threatened point. The roar of 
artillery soon announced that Hunter was engaged 
vith the enemy. The fire began with artillery, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 37 

and was followed up with infantry. The lead- 
ing brigade, commanded by the gallant Burn- 
side, sustained this shock, for a short time, with- 
out support, and did it well. The battalion of 
regular infantry was sent to sustain it, and shortly 
afterwards the other corps of Porter's brigade, and 
a regiment detached from Heintzelman's division 
to the left, forced the enemy back. Our forces 
succeeded in driving the enemy back and down 
the stream, to a point nearly opposite, where Tyler's 
forces were stationed, and where the first gun of 
the battle was fired, on the morning of that event- 
ful day, at 6 o'clock, and which warned the enemy 
that the hour of conflict was at hand. As soon as 
it was discovered that Hunter had thus driven the 
enemy's flank, General Tyler sent forward and 
across the run, the right wing of his column, com- 
posed of Sherman's and Key's brigades, to co-ope- 
rate, and thus a grand force was brought to bear 
most effectually against the enemy. The famous 
Irish regiment led the van, followed by the Seventy- 
ninth, (Highlanders), and Thirteenth New York 
and Second Wisconsin. 

* "It was a brave sight indeed — that rush of the 
Sixty-ninth into the death struggle ! "With such 
cheers as won the battles on the Peninsula, with a 



* Correspondent of the N. Y. World. 



38 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

quick step at first, and then a double quick, and at 
last a run, they dashed forward and along the edge 
of the extended forest. Coats and knapsacks were 
thrown to either side, that nothing might impede 
their work. As the line swept along, Meagher 
galloped towards the head, crying: "Come on, 
boys ! You've got your chance at last !" 

It was now noon, and the battle was raging with 
fierceness. The noise of the cannonading mingled 
with the sharp quick sound of musketry, was deafen- 
ing. It was heard at Fairfax, Alexandria and 
Washington City. 

We need not relate what followed, or remind 
the reader that we drove the enemy before us until 
about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when he was re- 
enforced by ten thousand fresh troops, from Win- 
chester, under command of Gren. Johnston, which 
Gen. Patterson failed to hold in check. 

We need not speak of the retreat, the rout, and 
the most disgraceful panic that followed. But, as 
we have given a brief sketch of the battle, up to 
the time Colonel Sherman entered it, we will now 
give a particular account of the part taken by that 
distinguished hero. 

Sherman's brigade, on the day of the battle, was 
composed of the Thirteenth New York regiment, 
Colonel Quinby; Sixty-ninth New York, Colonel 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 39 

Corcoran; Seventy-ninth ~New York, Colonel Came- 
ron ; Second Wisconsin, Lieutenant- Colonel Peck ; 
and company E Third Artillery, under command 
of Captain R. B. Ayres, Fifth Artillery. 

Sherman's brigade marched with the column of 
General Tyler, and took a position near the stone 
bridge at Bull Run. Here the brigade was de- 
ployed in line along the skirt of timber, and 
remained quietly in position, until after 10 o'clock 
A. M. The enemy had remained -very quiet, but 
about that time a regiment was seen leaving its 
cover in front of Sherman's forces, and moved in 
double quick time, on the road towards Sudley 
Springs, which was evidence that the column of 
Colonels Hunter and Heintzelman was approach- 
ing. About the same time a large force of the 
enemy was seen in motion, below the stone bridge. 
Colonel Sherman directed Captain Ayres to take 
position with his battery near our right, and open 
fire on the enemy. The smooth bore guns did 
not reach the position, hence the fire from them 
ceased. Sherman then sent for the thirty-pounder 
rifled gun, attached to Capt. Carlisle's battery. In 
the mean time, the New York Sixty-ninth was 
shifted to the extreme right of the brigade. There 
this force remained till they heard the musketry 
fire across Bull Run. The firing was brisk, and 
showed that Hunter was driving before him the 



40 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

enemy, till about noon, when it became certain that 
lie had come to a stand, and that our force on the 
other side of Bull Run was all engaged, artillery 
and infantry. 

It was at this time that Sherman was ordered 
to cross over the Run, with his whole brigade, to 
assist Hunter. Early in the day, when reconnoiter- 
1112; the ground, Sherman saw a horseman descend 
from a bluff to a point, across the stream, and show 
himself in the open field. This he supposed was 
designed to show him the place at which he was 
expected to cross over, when the proper time should 
come. He sent forward a company as skirmishers, 
and followed with the entire brigade, the New 
York Sixty-ninth leading the way. They found no 
difficulty in crossing over, and met no opposition 
in ascending the steep bluff opposite, with the 
infantry, but it was impassable to the artillery. 
Sherman then sent word to Capt. Ay res to follow 
if possible, otherwise to use his discretion. The 
Captain did not cross, but did good service during 
the day. Sherman then advanced slowly and con- 
tinuously, with the head of the column, to give 
time for the regiments, in succession, to close up 
their ranks. They first encountered a party of the 
enemy, retreating along a cluster of pines. Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Haggerty of the Sixty-ninth regi- 
ment, without orders, rode over and endeavored to 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 41 

intercept their retreat. One of the enemy, in full 
view and within short range, shot Haggerty, and 
he fell dead from his horse. The Sixty-ninth opened 
lire on this party, which was returned. But Sher- 
man, was determined to effect a junction with Hun- 
ter's division, and therefore, ordered this fire to 
cease. This force, then proceeded, with caution, 
toward the field, and soon saw our forces engaged. 
Colonel Sherman then ordered our colors to be 
displayed conspicuously, at the head of his column, 
for the purpose of attracting the attention of his 
friends — Hunter's forces. In a short time he suc- 
ceeded in forming the desired junction, and formed 
his brigade in rear of Colonel Porter's. Here he 
learned that Colonel Hunter was disabled by a 
severe wound, and that General McDowell was on 
the field. Sherman promptly sought him out, 
and received his orders to join in the pursuit 
of the enemy, who were falling back to the left of 
the road, by which the army had approached from 
Sudley Springs. Placing Col. Quinby's regiment 
of rifles in front, in column by division, he directed 
the other regiments to follow in line of battle, 
in the order of the Wisconsin Second, "New York 
Seventy-ninth, and New York Sixty-ninth. 

Quinby's regiment advanced steadily down the 
hill and up the ridge, from which he opened fire 
upon the enemy, who had made another stand, on 



42 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

ground very favorable to him. The regiment con- 
tinued advancing, as the enemy gave way, till the 
head of the column reached the point near which 
Rickett's battery was so severely cut up. The other 
regiments descended the hill in line of battle, un- 
der a severe cannonading, and the ground affording 
comparative shelter against the enemy's artillery, 
they changed directions by the right flank, and fol- 
lowed the road before mentioned. At the point 
where this road crossed the bridge, to the left, the 
ground was swept by a most severe fire of artillery, 
ri'Ie, and musketry, and Sherman's brigade saw in 
succession, several regiments driven from it, among 
them the Zouaves, and a battalion of marines. 
Before reaching the crest of the hill, the roadway 
was worn deep enough to afford shelter, and here 
Sherman kept his regiments as long as possible; 
but, when the Wisconsin Second was abreast the 
enemy, by order of Major Wadsworth, of General 
McDowell's staff, he ordered that regiment to leave 
the roadway by the left flank, and attack the 
enemy. This regiment ascended to the brow of 
the hill steadily, received the severe fire of the 
enemy, returned it with spirit, and advanced, deli- 
vering its fire. It was uniformed in gray cloth, 
almost identical with that of the greater part of 
the secession army, and when it fled in confusion, 
and retreated toward the roads, there was a 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 43 

universal cry that they were fired upon by our own 
men. The regiment rallied again, passed the brow 
of the hill a second time, and was again repulsed 
in disorder. By this time the New York Seventy- 
ninth had closed up, and in like manner it was 
ordered to cross the brow of the hill, and drive the 
enemy from cover. It was impossible to get a 
good view of the ground. One battery of artillery 
poured an incessant fire upon our advancing 
column, and the ground was irregular, with small 
clusters of pines, affording shelter, of which the 
enemy took good advantage. The fire of rifles and 
musketry was very severe. The Seventy-ninth, 
headed by Colonel Cameron, charged across the 
hill, and for a time the contest was doubtful. They 
rallied several times under fire, but finally broke 
and gained the cover of the hill. This left the field 
open to the New York Sixty-ninth, the regiment 
headed by Colonel Corcoran. He led his regiment 
over the crest of the hill, and had a full, open 
view of the ground so severely contested. We 
have heretofore described the manner in which the 
regiment went into the fight. The roar of can- 
non, musketry, and rifles, was incessant. It was 
manifest, the enemy was here in great force, far 
superior to ours. The Sixty-ninth held the ground 
for some time, but finally fell back, in disorder. 

Quinby's regiment occupied another ridge to the 
left of Sherman, overlooking the same field of 



44 

action, and were engaged with the enemy. Here, 
abont 3 J o'clock, P. M., began the scene of dis- 
order and confusion that characterized the remain- 
der of the day. Sherman's forces had kept their 
places, and seemed perfectly cool, having become 
accustomed to the shot and shell that fell compa- 
ratively harmless. But their loss had been very 
heavy. The intense fire of small-arms, at close 
range, had killed many, wounded more, and pro- 
duced disorder in all the battalions. Colonel 
Cameron had been mortally wounded, carried to 
an ambulance, and reported dying. Many of the 
ofiicers were reported dead or missing, and many 
of the wounded were making their way, with more 
or less assistance to the hospitals. On the ridge to 
the west, Sherman succeeded in partially re-forming 
the regiments, but it was manifest they would not 
stand; and he then directed Colonel Corcoran to 
move along the ridge to the rear, near the position 
where the brigade bad first, formed. G-eneral 
McDowell was there in person, and used all pos- 
sible efforts to reassure the men. By the active 
exertions of Colonel Corcoran, an irregular square 
was formed against the enemy's cavalry, which was 
then seen issuing from the position from which our 
forces had been driven. At once the retreat com- 
menced toward the Ford of Bull Run, by which 
they had approached the field of battle. The retreat 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. , 45 

was disorderly ; in fact, it had been going on for an 
hour by the operations of the men themselves. 

After putting in motion the irregular square, 
Sherman pushed forward to find Captain Ayres' 
battery, occupied chiefly at the point where Eick- 
ett's battery was destroyed. Lieutenant-Colonel 
Haggerty had been killed, Colonel Cameron mor- 
tally wounded, and Colonel Corcoran missing, after 
the cavalry charge near the hospital building. 
Sherman was left to do as best he could, in effect- 
ing the safe retreat of his men. 

Thev retreated to Centre ville, and there Sherman 
supposed the forces would rally, and make a stand. 
But, about 9 o'clock at night, he received from 
General Tyler, in person, the order to continue the 
retreat to the Potomac. The retreat was by night, 
and disorderly in the extreme. The men of dif- 
rent regiments mingled together, and some reached 
the river at Arlington, some at Long Bridge, and 
the greater part returned to their former camps, at 
or near Fort Corcoran and a few made no halt, 
until they reached New York. Sherman arrived 
at Fort Corcoran, the day after the battle, about 
noon, and found a miscellaneous crowd crossing 
over the aqueduct and ferries. He promptly com- 
manded the guard to be increased, and all persons 
attempting to pass over to be stopped. This soon 
produced the desired effect. Men sought their 



46 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

proper companies and regiments, comparative or- 
der was restored, and all were posted to the best 
advantage. 

Colonel Sherman expressed himself very strongly 
and indignantly with regard to the disgraceful 
conduct of the militia ; especially in regard to some 
of the officers in his command. This gave rise to 
many disparaging reports concerning the skill and 
character of Sherman, as a commander. But, 
whoever will read, with care, the foregoing truth- 
ful account of the part taken by him in the 
battle of Bull Run, will not find the shadow of 
a reason to doubt that a high order of bravery and 
military skill characterized his movements. He 
will see nothing in his conduct, in that disastrous 
battle, to rob him of the laurels which have since 
crowned his brow. 

After the disastrous battle of Bull Run, the army 
was re-organized. A number of general officers 
were appointed by the President, and confirmed 
by the Senate. It will be remembered that an 
extra session of Congress was then convened, at 
"Washington. Colonel Sherman, at the urgent 
request of the Ohio delegation, was appointed a 
brigadier-general of volunteers. His name was 
the sixth on the lineal roll of Brigadier-Generals. 
At that time, he outranked General Grant. His 
commission was dated from the 17th of May, 1861. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 47 

Subsequent events have proven that the honorable 
title of brigadier has seldom, if ever, been con- 
ferred more worthily. 

At this time, General Robert Anderson, of Fort 
Sumter memory, was in command of the Depart- 
ment of the Cumberland — which then embraced 
the States of Kentucky and Tennessee. His head- 
quarters were in the city of Louisville. General 
Sherman, a few days after the battle of Bull Run, 
was appointed second in command to General An- 
derson, in the Department of the Cumberland, 
with head-quarters in the field. For a short time 
these officers acted together, without jealousy or a 
spirit of rivalry; but the ill-health of General 
Anderson soon compelled him to relinquish all 
active service, and on the 8th of October, 1861, 
General Sherman became chief commander of this 
department. 

For weeks previous to this time, large bodies of 
rebel soldiers had been collected in Tennessee, in 
camps of instruction, on the very borders of Ken- 
tucky. Suddenly, and while Sherman and Ander- 
son were in command, the rebel. General S. B. 
Buckner, at the head of a large army, invaded the 
State, with the evident intention of capturing the 
city of Louisville, and driving out the Union troops. 
Sherman had but two fragmentary regiments, of 
about seventeen hundred men, and a volunteer 



48 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

force of about one thousand Home Guards, to meet 
and hold in check Buckner's army of at least eight 
or ten thousand. This he did most successfully, 
until his little army was reenforced. It, however, 
never was sufficiently large to justify him in mak- 
ing an advance upon the enemy. When his force 
amounted to fifteen thousand, that of the enemy 
amounted to nearly fifty thousand. It is a matter 
of astonishment to all who know the true situa- 
tion of affairs at that time, that his little army was 
not captured or driven out of the State. Kentucky 
owes a debt of gratitude to Generals Anderson 
and Sherman, and to the brave soldiers enlisted 
and commanded by Colonels Rousseau and Pope, 
under Sherman as their general. They kept the 
rebel host in check, saved the city of Louis- 
ville, and a large portion of the State, until, by the 
fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, the rebel army 
was driven from the State. 

General Sherman sent dispatch after dispatch to 
the War Department, and to General McClellan, 
explaining his situation, asserting his utter inability 
to defend his post against the overwhelming hosts 
of the enemy, in case he should be attacked, and 
requesting immediate reinforcements. Little atten- 
tion was paid to his requests. Sherman became 
discouraged, and finally asked to be relieved of his 
command. His request was granted, and on the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 49 

10th of November, 1861, his department was con- 
solidated with that of Ohio. 

At this time, General Halleck was in command 
of the Department of the "West. General Sherman 
was ordered to report to him, and by him was 
assigned to a command in the western part of Mis- 
souri, with head-quarters at Sedalia. 

Shortly afterwards he was transferred to Benton 
Barracks, near St. Louis, where he was placed in 
command of a camp of instruction. 

We next hear of Sherman, in command of the 
base of operations and supplies at Paducah, at the 
mouth of the Tennessee river ; from which place 
he sent supplies and reinforcements to General 
Grant, when he was engaged in capturing Forts 
Henry and Donelson. So faithfully did Sherman 
discharge the duties of this position, that General 
Grant acknowledged that to " General Sherman's 
promptness he was largely indebted for the success 
of his operations." Afterwards, Sherman was 
assigned, by the request of General Grant, to him 
as a division commander. We shall next meet 
Sherman on the bloody field of Shiloh. 

INCIDENTS. 

On one occasion Sherman said to the Adjutant 
General of the United States, that if the Govern- 
ment intended to open the Mississippi Kiver to its 



50 

mouth, it would require a force of at least two 
hundred thousand men, to accomplish the work. 

This revived the name which Sherman had 
received for his manly attempt to restore order 
among the Bull Run fugitives, " Crazy Sherman, " 
as some of his opponents called him. Time has 
proven that the " crazy man " was right in his 
j adgment. 

While Sherman's army was confronting General 
Buckner's forces, south of Elizabethtown, Ken- 
tucky, one of his brigadiers, the gallant Rousseau, 
suddenly approached one of his chaplains, the Rev. 
James H. Bristow, a true and noble man, and put 
his hand on his shoulder, looked him square in the 
face, and without turning away his eagle eyes, 
thus addressed him : 

"Chaplain," said the genera], "I think it pos- 
sible that we may have a battle to-morrow, and 
I wish to ask you one question. Will you go with 
me into battle and stand by my side until I fall, or 
to the end of the fight?" 

" What was your reply, " said I to Mr. Bristow. 

' To tell you the truth," said the chaplain, " I 

thought of an old song, which I used to sing, and 

which went somewhat after this fashion : < The 

spirit is ivilling, but the flesh r is weak.' " 

This man has since proven himself to be one of 
the best chaplains in the army. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 51 

While Sherman was in command at Benton Bar- 
racks, lie was in the habit of visiting every part of 
the barracks, and keeping himself familiar with 
everything that was going on. He wore an old 
brown coat and stove-pipe hat, and was not gene- 
rally recognized by the minor officials and soldiers. 
One day, while walking through the grounds, he 
met with a soldier who was beating a mule 
unmercifully. 

" Stop pounding that mule ! " Said the general. 

" Git eout ! " said the soldier in blissful ignorance 
of the person to whom he was speaking. 

" I tell you stop !" reiterated the general. 

"You mind your business, and I will mind 
mine," replied the soldier, continuing his flank 
movements upon the mule. 

"I tell you again, to stop!" said the general. 
"Do you know who I am? I am General Sher- 
man." 

"That's played out!" said the soldier. "Every 
man who comes along here with an old brown 
coat and stove-pipe-hat on, claims to be General 
Sherman." 

For once, at least, Sherman was compelled to 
acknowledge himself outflanked. 



CHAPTER III. 

GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG 
LANDING. 

THE BATTLE OF PITTSBURG LANDING THE MOST DESPE- 
RATE AND DECISIVE OF THE WAR THE TROOPS EN- 
GAGED SKIRMISHING BATTLE OPENS SURPRISE 

OF UNION TROOPS SUNDAY'S FIGHT THE UNION 

TROOPS DRIVEN FROM THEIR CAMPS THE LEXINGTON 

AND TYLER THE PART TAKEN BY THEM LEW WAL- 
LACE'S AND BUELL's FORCES ARRIVE — MONDAY'S OPE- 
RATIONS CAVALRY CHARGE BY GRANT PURSUIT BY 

SHERMAN GRANT'S OPINION OF SHERMAN THE PART 

TAKEN BY SHERMAN AND HIS DIVISION EXTRACT 

FROM HALLECK'S REPORT SHERMAN A MAJOR GENE- 
RAL THE OPINIONS OF DISTINGUISHED GENERALS 

INCIDENTS GEN. SHERMAN'S LETTER TO PROFESSOR 

COPPEE. 

The battle of Pittsburg Landing, or Shiloh, was 
one of the most desperate conflicts ever known in 
history, and the most severe and hardest fought 
battle of the rebellion, as well as, up to that time, 
the most decisive of the war. With overwhelming 
numbers opposing them, and surprised as they 
were by the enemy, it was only by the bravest and 
most stubborn fighting, that the Union troops gained 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 53 

this most splendid victory. And, although the tide 
seemed turned against them during the early part 
of the battle, everything seemed to favor them on 
the second day ; and, after two days fighting they 
had regained all they had lost, and driven back and 
conquered the rebels. 

The troops engaged in this battle, were the divi- 
sions of Prentiss, Sherman, and McClernand, who 
were in advance, and Hurlbut's and Smith's, the 
latter, under command of General W. H. L. Wal- 
lace. Hurlbut's and "Wallace's divisions were sta- 
tioned between the Tennessee River and the others. 
On the second day, these were joined by the divi- 
sions of Generals Lewis Wallace, Nelson, Critten- 
den, and McCook. 

On the evening of the fourth of April, the enemy 
made a reconnoissance with two of their regiments, 
and, after a slight skirmish, retired, as their forces 
under Price and Van Dorn had not yet arrived. 
Although the generals commanding the rebel army 
had fixed upon the fifth of April for the day of 
attack, they resolved to wait one day longer, until 
their reinforcements should arrive. This gave Gen- 
eral Buell time to reach Grant, and, without doubt, 
saved the country from a terrible disaster which 
must have been the result, had his reinforcements 
failed to arrive. Johnston, and Beauregard were 
aware that Buell was advancing from Eashville, to 



54 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

join Grant, and for this reason, at first resolved to 
attack him before Bnell should arrive. 

Just at break of day, on Sunday morning, the 
6th of April, the pickets of Prentiss and Sherman 
were driven in by the enemy, and the rebels were 
almost instantly in our camp. They found the 
troops entirely unprepared for anything like an 
attack. The officers and men were scattered about, 
some still in their beds, some dressing, and some 
eating their breakfast, — and none in readiness for 
their early and unexpected visitors. 

The five divisions stationed at this point, were 
hurriedly drawn up in line of battle, and, without a 
moment's preparation, met the enemy. Many of 
the regiments were new troops, their officers in- 
experienced, and many of them became panic- 
stricken. General Prentiss, and the greater part 
of his division, were at this time, taken prisoners. 
Sherman used all his energies to rally his men. 
Riding along the lines, encouraging them, and ex- 
posing his own life, he did much to save the division 
from utter destruction. Although our forces re- 
turned their fire most vigorously, our men were 
driven back from their camp. The enemy bringing 
up a fresh force, opened fire upon our left wing, 
under General McClernancl. Along the whole 
line, for a distance of over four miles, this fire was 
returned with terrible effect, by both infantry and 
artillery. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 55 

General Hurlbut's division was then brought 
forward, and a most desperate conflict ensued. 
The rebels were first driven back, with great loss of 
life, but rallied, and in turn, drove our men back. 

The rebel forces, commanded by able generals, 
were handled with a skill that drew admiration 
from all, and although repulsed, again and again, 
they continued sending fresh troops to the front, 
and again bent their energies to the work. 

Late in the afternoon, the most desperate fighting 
that had occurred during the entire day, took place. 
The rebels undoubtedly thought that if they failed 
in defeating us on that day, that their chances for 
success would be doubtful, as a part of General 
Buell's army had arrived on the opposite side of the 
river. The rebels could see the reinforcements 
from the river bank, and to this place they directed 
their attention. The Union troops were, indeed, 
contending against fearful odds, their army num- 
bering about thirty-eight thousand men, while that 
of the rebels exceeded sixty thousand. 

Many of the panic-stricken, and the skulkers, 
were gathered near the river, and no appeals from 
their officers could rally them. 

General Lewis Wallace's division, which was at 
Crump's Landing, was ordered up in the morning, 
but being led by a circuitous route, failed to reach 
the scene of action until night. 



56 

About five o'clock, P. M., the rebels occupied 
about two-thirds of the Uniou camps, and were 
constan tly driving them towards the river. Toward 
evening, the gunboats Lexington and Taylor, which 
had lain idle spectators during the day's fearful 
contest, seeking in vain for an opportunity to bring 
their guns to bear upon the enemy, commenced 
raining shells upon the rebel hordes. The boats 
fired rapidly, and well ; and with the incessant clash 
of guns, on land, and the crash and roar of shells 
from the boats, that Sabbath evening wore away. 

The men lay on their arms during the night, in 
line of battle. Buell and Lew. Wallace would be 
there, and ready to assist them in the morning, for 
all through the night, Buell's men were marching 
up from Savannah, and were being ferried across, 
or were coming upon transports ; and "Wallace's 
division had arrived in the evening, and would be 
in readiness ere the morning dawned. A heavy 
thunder storm came up about midnight, drenching 
the two armies, but proving a most excellent dress- 
ing for the wounds of the many who were suffering 
on that bloody field. 

At daylight, on the morning of the seventh of 
April, the two divisions of Nelson and Crittenden, 
advanced upon the enemy. Lew. Wallace's divi- 
sion commenced the battle by an artillery fire upon 
a battery of the enemy, causing them to retreat. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 57 

Nelson's troops were in the advance, and the fight- 
ing was most desperate, continually driving back 
the rebels. The fire soon became general along the 
whole line, — Crittenden following close to Nelson, 
and next to him, McCook. Generals Sherman's, 
McClernand's and Hurlbut's men, although terribly 
jaded from the previous day's fighting, came up, 
and gallantly added new laurels to those already 
won. 

But the rebels resisted at every point; they felt 
that all depended upon a most desperate effort on 
their part, and their generals urged them on, think- 
ing to flank us on the right, and thus gain the day. 
Success seemed theirs for a time, but our left, under 
Nelson, was dividing them, and by eleven o clock, 
General Buell's forces had succeeded in flanking 
them, and capturing their batteries. The rebels 
again rallied, but some regiments from Wood's 
and Thomas' coming in just then, were sent to Gen- 
eral Buell, who again drove the enemy back. 
About three o'clock in the afternoon, General Grant, 
at the head of five regiments of cavalry, ordered a 
charge across the field, himself commanding. The 
men followed with a shout, and the rebels fled in 
dismay, and did not make another stand. The 
retreating rebels were followed by Buell, and by 
half-past five, their whole army was retreating 
towards Corinth. 



58 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The main army, well nigh worn out with hard 
fighting, gladly welcomed the close of this victori- 
ous day. On the following morning, General Sher- 
man started forward with the remainder of his 
division, in pursuit. He met the enemy's cavalry 
on the road to Corinth, where a sharp skirmish 
ensued, and he drove them from the field with the 
loss of several killed and wounded. 

General Grant, in his official report of the battle 
of Pittsburg Landing, says : " I feel it a duty to 
a gallant and able officer, Brigadier General W. 
T. Sherman, to make special mention. He not 
only was with his command during the entire two 
days of the action, but displayed great judgment 
and skill in the management of his men ; although 
severely wounded in the hand, on the first day, his 
place was never vacant. He was again wounded, 
and had three horses killed under him. General 
Prentiss was taken prisoner on the first day's battle, 
and Gen. W. H. L. Wallace was mortally wounded." 

From General Sherman's report we learn, that 
on Friday, the 4th instant, the enemy's cavalry 
drove in his pickets, posted about a mile and a-half 
in advance of his centre, on the main Corinth road, 
capturing one lieutenant, and seven men ; that he 
ordered a pursuit by the cavalry of his division, 
driving them back about five miles, and killing 
many. On Saturday, the enemy's cavalry was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 59 

again very bold, coming well down to their front, 
yet it was thought that he designed nothing but a 
strong demonstration. On Sunday morning, early, 
the 6th instant, the enemy drove our advance guard 
back on the main body, when General Sherman 
ordered under arms, all his ..division, and sent word 
to General Mc demand, asking him to support his 
left; to General Prentiss, giving him notice that 
the enemy was in our front, in force, and to General 
Hurlbut, asking him to support General Prentiss. 
At this time, seven A. M., Sherman's division was 
arranged as follows : 

First Brigade, composed of the Sixth Iowa, Colo- 
nel J. A. McDowell; Fortieth Illinois, Colonel 
Hicks; Forty-sixth Ohio, Colonel Worthington ; 
and the Norton Battery, Captain Behr, on the 
extreme left, guarding the bridge on the Purdy 
Road, over Owl Creek. 

Second Brigade, composed of the Fifty-fifth Illi- 
nois, Colonel D. Stuart; Fifty-fourth Ohio, Colo- 
nel T. Kilby Smith; and the Seventy-first Ohio, 
Colonel Mason, on the extreme left, guarding the 
ford over Lick Creek. 

Third Brigade, composed of the Seventy-seventh 
Ohio, Colonel Hildebrand ; Fifty-third Ohio, Colo- 
nel Appier ; and the Fifty-seventh Ohio, Colonel 
Mungen, on the left of the Corinth Road, its right 
resting on Shiloh meeting-house. 



60 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Fourth Brigade, composed of the Seventy-second 
Ohio, Colonel Bnckland; Forty-eighth Ohio, Colo- 
nel Sullivan ; and the Seventeenth Ohio, Colonel 
Cockerill, on the right of the Corinth Road, its 
left resting on Shiloh meeting-house. 

Two "batteries of artillery, Taylor's and Water- 
house's, were posted, the former at Shiloh, and the 
latter on a ridge to the left, with a front fire over 
open ground between Mungen's and Appier's regi- 
ments. The cavalry, eight companies of the Fourth 
Illinois, under Colonel Dickey, were posted in a 
large open field to the left and rear of Shiloh 
meeting-house, which Sherman regarded as the 
centre of his position. Shortly after seven A. M., 
with his entire staff, Sherman rode along a portion 
of our front, and when in the open field before 
Appier's regiment, the enemy's pickets opened a 
brisk fire on his party, killing his orderly, Thomas 
D. Hollister, of Company H, Second Illinois Cav- 
alry. The fire came from the bushes which line a 
small stream that rose in the field in front of 
Appier's camp, and flows to the north along the 
whole front of the place where this division was 
located. This valley afforded the enemy cover, 
but our men were so posted as to have a good fire 
at him as he crossed the valley and ascended the 
rising ground on our side. 

About eight A. M. the glistening bayonets of 
heavy masses of rebel infantry could be seen to our 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 61 

left front, in the woods beyond the small stream 
alluded to, and Sherman became satisfied for the 
first time that the enemy designed a determined 
attack on our whole camp. All the regiments in 
his division were then in line of battle, at their 
proper posts. Sherman rode to Colonel Appier, 
and ordered him to hold his ground at all hazards, 
as he held the left flank of our first line of battle, 
and he had a good battery on his right and strong 
support in his rear. General McClernand had 
promptly and energetically responded to Sherman's 
request, and had sent him three regiments, which 
were posted to protect Waterhouse's battery and 
the left flank of Sherman's line. The battle began 
by the enemy opening a battery in the woods to 
our front, and throwing shell into our camp. 

Taylor's and Waterhouse's batteries promptly 
responded, and the heavy battalions of infantry 
could be seen passing obliquely to the left across 
the open field in Appier's front ; also other columns 
advancing directly upon Sherman's division. The 
Union infantry and artillery opened fire along the 
whole line, and the battle became general. Other 
heavy masses of the enemy's forces kept passing 
across the field to their left, and directing their 
course on G-eneral Prentiss. Sherman saw at once 
that the enemy designed to pass his left flank, and 
fall upon Generals McClernand and Prentiss, whose 



62 

line of camps was almost parallel with the Tennes- 
see River, and about two miles back from it. Very 
soon the sound of musketry and artillery announced 
that General Prentiss was engaged, and about nine 
A. M. he began to fall back. About this time 
Appier's regiment broke in disorder; Mungen's 
regiment followed, and the enemy pressed forward 
on Waterhouse's battery, thereby exposed. The 
three Illinois regiments in immediate support of 
this battery, stood for some time, but the enemy's 
advance was vigorous, and the fire so severe, that 
when Colonel Raith, of the Forty-third Illinois, 
received a severe wound, and fell from his horse, 
his regiment and the others manifested disorder, 
and the enemy got possession of three guns of this 
(Waterhouse's) battery. Although our left was 
thus turned, and the enemy was pressing our whole 
line, Sherman deemed Shiloh so important, that he 
remained by it, and renewed his orders to Colonels 
McDowell and Buckland to hold their ground ; and 
these positions were held until ten o'clock A. M., 
when the enemy had got his artillery to the rear of 
our left flank, and some change became absolutely 
necessary. Two regiments of Hildebrand's brigade 
(Appier's and Mungen's) had already disappeared 
to the rear, and Hildebrand's own regiment was in 
disorder. Sherman, therefore, gave orders for 
Taylor's battery, still at Shiloh, to fall back as far 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 63 

as the Purely and Hamburg Road, and for McDow- 
ell and Buckland to adopt that road as their new 
line. He rode across the angle and met'Behr's 
battery at the cross roads, and ordered it imme- 
diately to come into battery, action right. Captain 
Behr gave the order, but was almost instantly shot 
from his horse, when drivers and gunners fled in 
dismay, carrying off the caissons, and abandoning 
five out of six guns without firing a shot. The 
enemy pressed on, gaining this battery, and the 
Union troops were again forced to choose a line of 
defense. Hildebrand's brigade had substantially 
disappeared from the field, though he himself 
bravely remained. McDowell's and Buckland's 
brigades maintained their organization, and were 
conducted by Sherman's aids so as to join on 
McClernand's right, thus abandoning the original 
camps and line of Sherman. 

This was about ten o'clock A. M., at which 
time the enemy made a furious attack on General 
McClernaud's whole front. He struggled most 
desperately, but finding him pressed, McDowell's 
brigade was moved directly against the left flank 
of the enemy, forcing him back some distance, and 
the men were directed to avail themselves of every 
cover — trees, fallen timber, and a wooded valley to 
our right. This position they held for four long 
hours, sometimes gaining and at other times losing 



64 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

ground, Generals McClernancl and Sherman acting 
in perfect concert and struggling to maintain this 
line. While they were so hard pressed two Iowa 
regiments approached from the rear, but could not 
be brought up to the severe fire that was raging in 
our front. At four P. M. it was evident that Hurl- 
but's line had been driven back to the river, and 
knowing that General Wallace was coming with 
reinforcements from Crump's Landing, Sherman 
and McClernancl, on consultation, selected a new 
line of defense, with its right wing covering a 
bridge by which General Wallace had to approach. 

The Union troops fell back as well as they could, 
gathering, in addition to their own, such scattered 
forces as they could find, and formed the new line. 
During this change the enemy charged them, but 
were handsomely repulsed by an Illinois regiment. 

The Fifth Ohio cavalry, which had come up, ren- 
dered good service in holding the enemy in check 
for some time, and Major Taylor also came up with 
a new battery, and got into position just in time to 
get a good flank fire upon the enemy's column as 
he pressed on General McClernand's right, check- 
ing his advance, when General McClernand's divi- 
sion made a fine charge on the enemy, and drove 
him back into the ravines to our front and right. 
Sherman had a clear field about two hundred yards 
wide in his immediate front, and contented himself 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 65 

with keeping the enemy's infantry at that distance 
during the day. In this position his army rested 
for the night. His command had become decidedly 
of a mixed character. Buckland's brigade was the 
only one that retained organization. Colonel Hil- 
debrand was personally there, but his brigade was 
not. Colonel McDowell had been severely injured 
by a fall from his horse, and had gone to the river, 
and the three regiments of his brigade were not in 
line. 

The Thirteenth Missouri, Colonel Crafts J. 
Wright, had reported to Sherman on the field, and 
fought well, retaining its regimental organization, 
and formed a part of his line during Sunday night 
and all day Monday. Other fragments of regi- 
ments and companies had also fallen into his divi- 
sion, and acted with it during the remainder of the 
battle. 

Generals Grant and Buell visited Sherman in his 
bivouac that evening, and from them he learned 
the situation in the other parts of the field. Gen- 
eral "Wallace arrived from Crump's Landing shortly 
after dark, and formed his line to the right and rear 
of Sherman. It rained hard during the night, but 
our men were in good spirits, and lay on their 
arms, being satisfied with such bread and meat as 
could be gathered at the neighboring camps, and 



66 

determined to redeem on Monday the losses of 
Sunday. 

At daybreak of Monday Sherman received G en- 
eral Grant's orders to advance and recap tnre their 
original camps. He dispatched several members 
of his staff to bring up all the men they could find, 
and especially the brigade of Colonel Stuart, which 
had been separated from the division the day 
before ; and at the appointed time the division, or 
what remained of it, with the Thirteenth Missouri 
and other fragments of regiments, moved forward, 
and occupied the ground on the extreme right of 
General McClernand's camp, where they attracted 
the fire of a rebel battery near Colonel McDowell's 
former headquarters. Here Sherman remained 
awaiting: for the sound of General Buell's advance 
upon the main Corinth Road. About 10 o'clock 
A. M. the firing in this direction, and its steady 
approach, satisfied him ; and General Wallace be- 
ing on his right, flanked with his well-conducted 
division, Sherman led the head of his column to 
General McClernand's right, formed in line of 
battle facing south, with Buckland's brigade 
directly across the ridge, and Stuart's brigade on 
its right, in the woods, and thus advanced steadily 
and slowly, under a heavy fire of musketry and 
artillery. Taylor had just come up from the rear, 
where he had gone for ammunition, and brought 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 67 

up three guns, which Sherman ordered into posi- 
tion to advance by hand-firing. These guns be- 
longed to Company A, Chicago Light Artillery, 
commanded by Lieutenant P. P. Wood, and did 
most excellent service. Under cover of their fire, 
the troops advanced until they reached the point 
where the Corinth Poad crosses the line of General 
McClernand's camp ; and here was seen the well- 
ordered and compact Kentucky forces of General 
Buell, whose soldierly movement alone gave confi- 
dence to our new and less disciplined forces, 
Willich's regiment advancing upon a point of 
water oaks and thicket, behind which the enemy 
was in great strength, and entered it in 
beautiful style. Then arose some of the most 
severe musketry firing ever heard, lasting twenty 
minutes, when this splendid regiment had to fall 
back. This green point of timber is about five 
hundred yards east of Shiloh meeting-house, and 
it was evident that there was to be the struggle. 
The enemy could also be seen forming his line to 
the south. General McClernand sending to Sher- 
man for artillery, he detached to him the three 
guns of Wood's battery, with which he speedily 
drove them back; and seeing some others in the 
rear, Sherman sent one of his staff to bring them 
forward, when, by almost Providential decree, they 
proved to be two twenty-four pounder Howitzers, 



68 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

belonging to McAllister's battery, and served 
as well as guns ever could be. This was 
about two P. M. The enemy had one battery 
close by Shiloh, and another near the Hamburg 
Road, both pouring grape and cannister upon any 
column of troops that advanced upon the green 
point of water-oaks. "Willich's regiment had been 
repulsed ; but a whole brigade of McCook's divi- 
sion advanced, beautifully deployed, and entered 
this dreaded wood. Sherman ordered his Second 
brigade, then commanded by Colonel Kilby Smith 
(Colonel Stuart being wounded,) to form on its 
right, and his Fourth brigade, Colonel Buckland, 
on its right — all to advance with the Kentucky 
brigade before mentioned (Rousseau's brigade 
of McCook's division). He gave personal direc- 
tion to the twenty-four pounder guns, whose well- 
directed fire silenced the enemy's guns to the left, 
and afterwards at the Shiloh meeting-house. Rous- 
seau's brigade moved in splendid order steadily to 
the front, sweeping everything before it, and at four 
P. M. the Union troops stood upon the ground of 
their original front line, and the enemy was in full 
retreat. Sherman directed his several brigades to 
resume at once their original camp. 

General McCook's splendid division from Ken- 
tucky drove back the enemy along the Corinth 
Road, which was the great centre of the field of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 69 

battle, and where Beauregard commanded in per- 
son, supported by Bragg's, Polk's and Breck- 
inridge's divisions. Johnston was killed by expo- 
sing himself in front of his troops at the time 
of their attack on Buckland's brigade on Sunday 
morning. 

Sherman's division was made up of regiments 
perfectly new, all having received their muskets for 
the first time at Paducah. None of them had ever 
been under fire, and to expect the coolness and 
steadiness of older troops would be wrong. They 
knew not the value of combination and organiza- 
tion. "When individual fear seized them, the first 
impulse was to get away. His third brigade 
broke much sooner than it should have done. 
Colonel Hildebrand, its commander, was as cool as 
man could be, and no one could have made stronger 
efforts to hold his men to their places than he did. 
He kept his own regiment, with individual excep- 
tions, in hand an hour after Appier's and Mungen's 
regiments had left their proper field of action. Colo- 
nel Buckland managed his brigade well. General 
Sherman commended him to General Grant as a 
cool, intelligent and judicious man, who needed 
only confidence and experience to make a good 
commander. His subordinates, Colonels Sullivan 
and Cockerill, behaved with great gallantry, the 
former receiving a severe wouud on Sunday, and 



70 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

yet commanding and holding his regiment well in 
hand all day, and on Monday, until his right arm 
was broken by a shot. Cockerill held a largei 
proportion of his men than any colonel in Sher- 
man's division, and was with him from first to last. 
Colonel J. H. McDowell, commanding the First 
brigade, held his ground on Sunday until ordered 
to fall back, which he did in line of battle, and 
when ordered he conducted the attack on the ene- 
my's left in good style. In falling back to the next 
position he was thrown from his horse and injured, 
and his brigade was not in position on Monday 
morning. His subordinates, Colonels Hicks and 
Worthington, displayed great personal courage. 
Colonel Hicks led his regiment in the attack on 
Sunday, and received a severe wound. Lieutenant- 
Colonel Walcutt, of the Ohio Forty-sixth, was 
severely wounded on Sunday. Sherman's Second 
brigade, Colonel Stuart, was detached nearly two 
miles from headquarters. He had to fight his own 
battle on Sunday against superior numbers, as the 
enemy interposed between him and General Pren- 
tiss early in the day. Colonel Stuart was wounded 
severely, and yet reported for duty on Monday 
morning. He was compelled to leave during the 
day, when the command devolved on Colonel 
Kilby Smith, who was always in the thickest 
of the fight, and led the brigade handsomely 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 71 

Lieutenant-Colonel Kyle, of the Seventy-first, was 
mortally wounded on Sunday. 

Several times during the battle cartridges gave 
out, but General Grant had thoughtfully kept a 
supply coming from the rear. General Sherman 
commended the Fortieth. Illinois and Thirteenth 
Missouri for steadfastly holding their ground under 
heavy fire', although their cartridge-boxes were 
empty. The following is the number of killed, 
wounded and missing in Sherman's division : 



Sixth Iowa, 

Fortieth Illinois, 

Forty-sixth Ohio, 

Fifty-fifth Illinois, , 

Fifty-fourth Ohio, 

Seventy-first Ohio, 

Seventy-seventh Ohio,. 

Fifty-seventh Ohio, 

Fifty-third Ohio, 

Seventy-second Ohio,.. 

Forty-eighth Ohio, 

Seventieth Ohio, 

Taylor's Battery, 

Behr's Battery, 

Barrett's Battery, 

Waterhouse's Battery,. 
Orderly Holliday, 



-KILLED— , r 


—WOUNDED — » 


—MISSING—^ 


Off's. 


Men. 


Off's. 


Men. 


Off's. 


Men. 


2 


49 


3 


117 




39 


1 


42 


7 


148 




2 


2 


32 


3 


147 




52 


1 


45 


8 


183 




41 


2 


22 


5 


128 




32 


1 


12 




52 


1 


45 


1 


48 


7 


107 


3 


53 


2 


7 




82 




33 




7 




39 




5 


2 


13 


5 


85 




49 


1 


13 


3 


70 


1 


45 




9 


1 


53 


1 


39 


1 








'.'.'. 






1 


... 


5 


... 






1 


3 


14 






... 


1 


... 


... 


... 


... 


16 


302 


45 


1230 


6 


435 



72 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN 



RECAPITULATION. 

Officers — Killed, 16 

Wounded, 45 

Missing, 6 

Soldiers— Killed, 302 

Wounded, 1230 

Missing, 435 

Aggregate loss in the Division, 2034 

The enemy captured seven guns belonging to 
Sherman's division on Sunday, but on Monday the 
division recovered seven, not the identical guns 
lost, but enough in number to balance the account. 

At the time of recovering their camps, the men 
were so fatigued, that they could not follow the 
retreating masses of the enemy ; but on the next 
day, Sherman followed them up for six miles. 

Captain Harmon, chief of staff, though in feeble 
health, was very active in rallying broken troops, 
encouraging the steadfast, and aiding to form the 
lines of defense and attack. Major Sanger's intel- 
ligence, quick perception and rapid execution, were 
of very great value to the commander-in-chief, 
especially in bringing into line the batteries that 
cooperated so efficiently in their movements. Cap- 
tains McCoy and Dayton, aids-de-camp, were 
with Sherman all the time, carrying orders, and 
acted with coolness, spirit and courage. To Sur- 
geon Hartshorn and Doctor L'Hommedieu, hun- 
dreds of wounded men were indebted for the kind 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 73 

and excellent treatment received on the field of 
battle, and in the various temporary hospitals 
created along the line of our operations. They 
worked day and night, and did not rest till all the 
wounded of our troops, as well as those of the 
enemy, were in safe and comfortable shelter. Major 
Taylor, chief of artillery, showed much good 
sense and judgment, in managing the batteries on 
which so much depended. The cavalry of Sher- 
man's command kept to the rear, and took little 
part in the action, but it would have been madness 
to have exposed horses to the musketry fire under 
which they were compelled to remain, from Sun- 
day at eight A. M. till Monday at four P. M. 

Major-General Halleck, in a dispatch to Secre- 
tary Stanton, dated Pittsburg, Tenn., said: 

" It is the unanimous opinion here that Briga- 
dier-General "W. T. Sherman saved the fortune of 
the 6th, and contributed largely to the glorious 
victory on the 7th. He was in the thickest of 
the fight on both days, having three horses killed 
under him, and being wounded twice. I respect- 
fully request that he be made a Major-General of 
Volunteers, to date from the 6th instant." 

General Nelson, a few days before his death, in 
conversation with several gentlemen, said : " Du- 
ring eight hours, the fate of the army on the field 
of Shiloh depended on the life of one man : if 



74 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

General Sherman had fallen, the army would have 
been captured or destroyed." 

General Boyle was speaking to a crowd of men 
at Willard's, in Washington, when Chief- Justice 
Ewing, of Kansas, entered the room and heard him 
say: "You do not know how to appreciate our 
military men. If Napoleon Bonaparte had com- 
manded at Shiloh, he would have made General 
Sherman a field-marshal on the field of battle." 

General Rousseau, who was also in the battle of 
the 7th, in a public speech, at an ovation given 
him in Louisville, on the 15th of June, says : " I 
wish to say a word of General Sherman. You do 
not know him, though you may think you do. He 
stayed with us while Buckner was most expected, 
but at last, in obedience to commands, he left our 
State. He gave us our first lessons in the field, in 
the face of the enemy; and of all the men I ever 
saw, he is the most untiring, vigilant and patient. 
No man that ever lived could surpass him. His 
enemies say that he was surprised at Shiloh. I 
tell you, no. He was not surprised, nor whipped ; 
for he fights by the week. Devoid of ambition, 
incapable of envy, he is brave, gallant, and just. 
At Shiloh, his old legion met him just as the battle 
was ended, and at the sight of him, placing their 
hats upon their bayonets, gave him three cheers. 
It was a touching and fitting compliment to the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 75 

gallant chieftain. I am thankful for this occasion 
to do justice to a brave, honest, and knightly 
gentleman." 

In a letter to the War Department, dated July 
26th, 1863, General Grant says : " General Sher- 
man, at the battle of Shiloh, on the first day, held, 
with raw troops, the key-point of the landing. It 
is no disparagement to any other officer, to say that 
I do not believe there was another division com- 
mander on the field, who had the skill and experi- 
ence to have done it. To his individual efforts I am 
indebted for the success of that battle" 

A cavalry officer at the battle of Shiloh relates 
many incidents illustrative of Sherman's character. 
He says: "Having occasion to report personally 
to General Sherman about noon of the first day 
at Shiloh, I found him dismounted, his arm in a 
sling, his hand bleeding, his horse dead, himself 
covered with dust, his face besmeared with powder 
and blood ; he was giving directions at the moment 
to Major Taylor, his chief of artillery, who had 
just brought a battery into position. Mounted 
orderlies were coming and going in haste ; staff- 
officers were making anxious inquiries ; everybody 
but himself seemed excited. The battle was raging 
terrifically in every direction. Just then, there 
seemed to be universal commotion on our right, 
where it was observed that our men were giving 



76 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

back. C I was looking for that,' said Sherman; 
1 but I am ready for them.' His quick, sharp eyes 
flashed, and his war-begrimed face beamed with 
satisfaction. The enemy's packed columns now 
made their appearance, and as quickly the guns 
which Sherman had so carefully placed in position, 
began to speak. The deadly effect on the enemy 
was apparent. While Sherman was still managing 
the artillery, Major Sanger, a staff officer, called 
his attention to the fact that the enemy's cavalry 
was charging towards the battery. ' Order these 
two companies of infantry,' was the quick reply, 
and the general coolly went on with his guns. The 
cavalry made a gallant charge, but their horses 
carried back empty saddles. The enemy was evi- 
dently foiled. Our men, gaining fresh courage, 
rallied again, and for the first time that day, the 
enemy was held stubbornly in check. A moment 
more, and he fell back on the piles of his dead and 
wounded." 

With the following interesting letter, we close 
this chapter, which will serve the purpose of cor- 
recting erroneous and widely circulated reports 
concerning two of the generals engaged in the 
battle of Shiloh, and at the same time will give us 
additional insight into the character of Sherman : 



and his campaigns. 77 

Head-quarters Military Division 1 
op the Mississippi. j 

Prof. Henry Coppee, Philadelphia : 

Dear Sir : In the June number of the United 
States Service Magazine I find a brief sketch of Lieu- 
tenant- General U. S. Grant, in which I see you are 
likely to perpetuate an error, which General Grant 
may not deem of sufficient importance to correct. 
To General Buell's noble, able and gallant conduct, 
you attribute the fact that the disaster of April 6th, 
at Pittsburg Landing, was retrieved, and made the 
victory of the following day. As General Taylor 
is said, in his latter days, to have doubted whether 
he was at the battle of Buena Yista at all, on 
account of the many things having transpired there, 
according to the historians, which he did not see, so 
I begin to so doubt whether I was at the battle of 
Pittsburg Landing of April 6th and 7th, 1862. Gen- 
eral Grant visited my division about ten A. M., 
when the battle raged fiercest. I was then on the 
right. After some general conversation, he re- 
marked that I was doing right in stubbornly oppos- 
ing the progress of the enemy ; and in answer to 
my inquiry as to cartridges, he told me that he had 
anticipated their want, and given orders accor- 
dingly ; he then said his presence was more needed 
over at the left. About two P. M. of the 6th, the 
enemy materially slackened his attack on me, and 



78 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

about four P. M., I deliberately made a line behind 
Mc Arthur's drill field, placing batteries on chosen 
ground, repelling easily a cavalry attack, and 
watched the cautious approach of the enemy's in- 
fantry, that never dislodged me there. I selected 
that line in advance of a bridge across Snake 
Creek, by which we had all day been expecting the 
approach of Lew. Wallace's division from Crump's 
Landing. About five P. M., before the sun set, 
General Grant came again to me, and after hearing 
my report of matters, explained to me the situation 
of affairs on the left, which were not as favorable ; 
still the enemy had failed to reach the landing of 
the boats. We agreed that the enemy had expended 
the furore of his attack, and we estimated our loss, 
and approximated our then strength, including 
Lewis "Wallace's fresh division, expected each 
minute. He then ordered me to get all things 
ready, and at daylight the next day to assume the 
offensive. That was before General Buell had 
arrived, but he was known to be near at hand. 
General Buell's troops took no essential part in the 
first day's fight, and Grant's army, though collected 
together hastily, green as militia, some regiments 
arriving without cartridges even, and nearly all 
hearing the dread sound of battle for the first 
time, had successfully withstood and repelled the 
first day's terrific onset of a superior enemy, well 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 79 

commanded and well handled. I know I had 
orders from General Grant to assume the offensive 
before I knew General Bueli was on the west side 
of the Tennessee. I think General Buell, Colonel 
Fry, and others of General Buell's staff, rode up 
to where I was about sunset, about the time Gen- 
eral Grant was leaving me. General Buell asked 
me many questions, and got of me a small map, 
which I had made for my own use, and told me 
that by daylight he could have eighteen thousand 
fresh men, which I knew would settle the matter. 

I understood Grant's forces were to advance on 
the right of the Corinth Road and Buell's on the 
left, and accordingly at daylight I advanced my 
division by the flank, the resistance being trivial, 
up to the very spot where the day before the battle 
had been most severe, and then waited till near 
noon for Buell's troops to get up abreast, when the 
entire line advanced and recovered all the ground 
we had ever held. I know that with the excep- 
tion of one or two severe struggles, the fighting of 
April 7th was easy, as compared with that of 
April 6th. 

I never was disposed, nor am I now, to question 
anything done by General Buell and his army, and 
know that, approaching our field of battle from the 
rear, he encountered that sickening crowd of lag- 
gards and fugitives that excited his contempt and 



80 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

that of his army, who never gave full credit to 
those in the front line, who did fight hard, and who 
had, at four P. M., checked the enemy, and were 
preparing the next day to assume the offensive. I 
remember the fact better from General Grant's 
anecdote of his Donelson battle, which he told me 
then for the first time — that, at a certain period of 
the battle, he saw that either was ready to give 
way if the other showed a bold front, and he deter- 
mined to do that very thing, to advance on the 
enemy when, as he prognosticated, the enemy sur- 
rendered. At four P. M. of April 6th, he thought 
the appearance the same, and he judged, with Lew. 
Wallace's fresh division and such of our startled 
troops as had recovered their equilibrium, he would 
be justified in dropping the defensive and assum- 
ing the offensive in the morning. And I repeat, I 
received such orders before I knew General Buell's 
troops were at the river. I admit that I was glad 
that Buell was there, because I knew his troops 
were older than ours, and better systematized 
and drilled, and his arrival made that certain 
which before was uncertain. I have heard this 
question much discussed, and must say that the 
officers of Buell's army dwelt too much on the 
stampede of some of our raw troops, and gave 
us too little credit for the fact that for one whole 
day, weakened as we were by the absence of Buell's 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 81 

army, long . expected ; of Lew. Wallace's division, 
only four miles off, and of the fugitives from our 
ranks, we had beaten off our assailants for the time. 
At the same time our Army of the Tennessee have 
indulged in severe criticism at the slow approach of 
that army which knew the danger that threatened 
us from the concentrated armies of Johnston, 
Beauregard and Bragg that lay at Corinth. In a 
war like this, where opportunities of personal 
prowess are as plenty as blackberries to those who 
seek them at the front, all such criminations should 
be frowned down ; and were it not for the military 
character of your journal I would not venture to 
offer a correction of a very popular error. 

I will also avail myself of this occasion to cor- 
rect another very common mistake in attributing 
to General Grant the selection of that battlefield. 
It was chosen by that veteran soldier, Major Gen- 
eral Charles F. Smith, who ordered my division to 
disembark there, and strike for the Charleston 
Railroad. This order was subsequently modified 
by his ordering Hurlbut's division to disembark 
there, and mine higher up the Tennessee to the 
mouth of Yellow Creek, to strike the railroad at 
Burnsville. But fioods prevented our reaching 
the railroad, when General Smith ordered me in 
person also to disembark at Pittsburg, and take 
post well out, so as to make plenty of room, with 



82 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Snake and Lick Creeks the flanks of a camp for 
the grand army of invasion. 

It was General Smith who selected that field of 
battle, and it was well chosen. On any other we 
surely wonld have been overwhelmed, as both Lick 
and Snake Creeks forced the enemy to confine his 
movements to a direct front attack, which new 
troops are better qualified to resist than where 
flanks are exposed to a real or chimerical danger. 
Even the divisions of that army were arranged in 
that camp by G-eneral Smith's orders, my division 
forming, as it were, the outlying picket, whilst 
McClernand's and Prentiss' were the real line of 
battle, with W. H. L. Wallace in support of the 
right wing, and Hurlbut of the left ; Lew. "Wallace's 
division being detached. All these subordinate 
dispositions were made by the order of General 
Smith, before General Grant succeeded him to the 
command of all the forces up the Tennessee — 
head-quarters, Savannah. If there was any error 
in putting that army on the west side of the Ten- 
nessee, exposed to the superior force of the enemy 
also assembling at Corinth, the mistake was not 
General Grant's — but there was no mistake. It 
was necessary that a combat, fierce and bitter, to 
test the manhood of the two armies, should come 
off, and that was as good a place as any. It was 
not then a question of military skill and strategy, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 83 

but of courage and pluck, and I am convinced that 
every life lost to us that day was necessary; for 
otherwise at Corinth, at Memphis, at Vicksburg, 
we would have found harder resistance, had we not 
shown our enemies that, rude and untutored as we 
then were, we could fight as well as they. 

Excuse so long a letter, which is very unusual 
from me, but of course my life is liable to cease at 
any moment, and I happen to be a witness to cer- 
tain truths which are now beginning to pass out of 
memory, and form what is called history. 

I also take great pleasure in adding that nearly 
all the new troops that at Shiloh drew from me 
official censure have more than redeemed their 
good name; among them that very regiment 
which first broke, the Fifty-third Ohio, Colonel 
Appier. Under another leader, Colonel Jones, it 
has shared every campaign and expedition of 
mine since, is with me now, and can march and 
bivouac and fight as well as the best regiment in 
this or any army. Its reputation now is equal to 
any from the State of Ohio. 

I am, with respect, 
Yours, truly, 

W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General. 



CHAPTER TV. 

SHERMAN AND THE SIEGE OF COMNTH. 

march toward corinth skirmishing at monterey 

and purdy siege of corinth commences battle 

of russell's house — evacuation of corinth — ■ 

occupation of the city by the union troops 

pursuit by general m. l. smith to tuscumbia 
creek — Sherman's congratulatory order — inci- 
dents TAKES POSSESSION OF HOLLY SPRINGS 

APPOINTED THE MILITARY COMMANDER OF MEMPHIS, 
TENNESSEE. 

After the battle of Pittsburg Landing, cavalry 
skirmishes occurred at intervals, along the outposts 
of the Union army, but nothing of importance 
transpired, until the movement was made toward 
Corinth, on the 17th of April, 1862. All along 
the line of march, from Pittsburg Landing to 
Corinth, the advance of our army was signalized 
by reconnoissances and skirmishes. On the 27th 
of April, a cavalry skirmish took place near Mon- 
terey, ten miles from Corinth, at which time several 
rebel prisoners were taken. Two days after, skir- 
mishing occurred again, resulting in the capture of 
more prisoners, and of the rebel camps. On the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 85 

30th day of April, Purdy, on the Jackson and 
Corinth Railroad, which place had been abandoned 
a few days previous, was occupied by the Union 
army, they succeeding in cutting off all railroad 
communications between Corinth and Northwestern 
Tennessee. 

The siege of Corinth, may be said to have com- 
menced on the 30th of April. The Union com- 
manders were continually sending out reconnois- 
sances, and on the 8th of May, we find their cavalry 
within a mile and a half of Corinth. The rebels 
made several dashes on the Union lines, causing 
some of the forces on the left to retire. 

On the 11th of May, it was decided by the gen- 
eral officers, that an advance of the whole army 
should take place, and they accordingly pressed 
forward to Corinth, where all felt that a terrible 
battle would soon occur. The Union troops met 
with resistance as they proceeded on their march, 
and on the 17th of May, the Fifth Division under 
General Sherman, encountered the rebels near 
Russell's house, causing them to fall back, while 
the Unionists took possession of the position. 

We learn from General Sherman's official report 
that in compliance with the purpose of Major- 
General Halleck, he made all possible inquiry as 
to the topography of the ground in his front, with 
its water courses, fields, and roads, and on the 



86 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

17th made disposition to drive the enemy from 
his position at Russell's house. 

He requested General Hurlbut to put in motion 
two regiments and a battery of artillery, at three 
o'clock P. M., on the road which passes the front 
of his line, and runs to Russell's house. He 
ordered General Denver to take a right-hand road 
with two regiments of his brigade and one battery 
of light artillery, namely, the Seventieth and Sev- 
enty-second Ohio, and Barrett's battery, and gave 
him a guide so to conduct his march as to arrive 
on the left of the enemy's position by the time he 
was en2rao;ed in front ; and ordered General Mor- 
gan L. Smith's brigade, with Benton's battery, to 
follow the main road, drive back a brigade of the 
enemy's forces that held a position at Russell's with 
their skirmishers and pickets, down to the cause- 
way and bridge across a small stream, about eight 
hundred yards from Russell's house, supposed to 
be a branch of Bridge Creek. 

All these forces were put in motion at three P. 
M., General Denver's forces taking the right-hand 
road, and General Smith's the direct main road. 
On reaching the causeway, General Smith deployed 
his skirmishers forward, and sent out his advance- 
guard. The column advanced, and the skirmish- 
ers became engaged at once. The firing was brisk, 
but the enemy's pickets were driven steadily back, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 87 

till they reached the position of their brigade at 
Russell's house, where their resistance was obsti- 
nate. 

The ground was unfavorable to artillery till the 
skirmishers had cleared the hill beyond the cause- 
way, when Major Taylor, chief of artillery, ad- 
vanced first one of Benton's guns, and very soon 
after, the remaining three guns of the battery. 
These, upon reaching the hill-top, commenced 
firing at Russell's house and outhouses, in which 
the enemy had taken shelter, when their whole 
force retreated, and the position occupied three 
hundred yards in advance, where the roads 
meet. This was the limit to which Sherman had 
ordered the brigade to go, and there it halted. 
The head of General Denver's column reached its 
position as the enemy was beginning to retreat. 

General Morgan L. Smith conducted the advance 
of his brigade handsomely, and the chief work and 
loss fell upon his two leading regiments, the Eighth 
Missouri, and Fifty-fifth Illinois. To General 
Smith was due the full credit of conducting the 
advance, and of carrying the position at Russell's. 
He held the ground till about daylight next mor- 
ning, when, by order of General Sherman, he left 
a strong picket there, and placed his brigade back 
a short distance in easy support, where it remained 
until relieved by another brigade. 



88 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

From Russell's could distinctly be heard the 
drums beating in Corinth. The house is nearly 
a mile and a quarter from the enemy's outer 
intrenchments. 

There was no loss sustained by Generals Hurl- 
but's or Denver's commands in their flank move- 
ments on Russell's ; but the loss in General Mor- 
gan L. Smith's was pretty heavy — ten killed and 
thirty-one wounded. The confederates left twelve 
dead on the ground. They removed their wounded, 
of which many traces were on the ground and in 
the house. Among their dead were one captain, 
and two lieutenants. 

General Sherman's division was again brought 
in action on the 27th of May. The rebels, although 
outnumbering our forces, retreated, and it was 
thought the contest was for the purpose of detain- 
ing the advance of the Union army. On the 28th, 
a portion of the troops advanced to within gun- 
shot of the rebel works, causing the rebels to 
retreat, with considerable loss. On the 30th of 
May, the Union army marched into Corinth, the 
enemy having withdrawn the last of their forces 
about midnight the night previous. A portion of 
our army followed the retreating rebels. 

General Sherman, in his official report of the 
occupation of Corinth, says that after driving the 
enemy away from Russell's house, they found the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 89 

place one of great natural strength, and proceeded 
to fortify it. Lines were laid off by the engineer, 
Captain Kossak, and a very excellent parapet was 
constructed by the men in a style that elicited the 
approval of General Halleck. Men worked day 
and night, and as soon as it was done, and the 
dense trees and undergrowth cleared away in front, 
to give range to our batteries, Sherman directed 
his pickets to drive the enemy further back behind 
a large open field to his front and right. This was 
handsomely executed by the regular detail of picket- 
guard, under the direction of the field officer of the 
day, Lieutenant-Colonel Loudon, of the Seventieth 
Ohio. 

They remained in that intrenched camp until the 
night of the 27th, when Sherman received from 
Halleck an order by telegraph, " to send a force 
the next day to drive the rebels from the house in 
our front on the Corinth Road; to drive in their 
pickets as far as possible, and to make strong 
demonstrations on Corinth itself," authorizing him 
to call on any adjacent divisions for assistance. 
He asked General McClernand for one brigade 
and General Hurlbut for another, to cooperate 
with two brigades of his own division. Colonel 
John A. Logan's brigade, of General Judah's divi- 
sion of McClernand's reserve corps, and General 
Veatch's brigade, of Hurlbut's division, were 



90 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

placed subject to Sherman's orders, and took part 
with his division in the operations of the two 
following days. 

The house referred to by General Halleckwas a 
double log building, standing on a high ridge on 
the upper or southern end of the large field before 
referred to as the one to which our pickets had 
advanced. The enemy had taken out the chinks 
and removed the roof, making it an excellent 
block-house from which, with perfect security, he 
could fire among our pickets. The large field was 
perfectly overlooked by this house, as well as by 
the ridge along its southern line of defense, which 
was covered by a dense grove of heavy oaks and 
underbrush. The main Corinth Road runs along 
the eastern fence, whilst the field itself, about three 
hundred yards wide by about five hundred yards 
long, extended to the right into the low land of 
Philip's Creek, so densely wooded as to be impas- 
sable to troops or artillery. On the eastern side of 
the field the woods were more open. The enemy 
could be seen at all times in and about the house 
and the ridge beyond, and our pickets could not 
show themselves on our side of the field without 
attracting a shot. 

The problem was to clear the house and ridge of 
the enemy with as little loss as possible. To accom- 
plish this, Sherman ordered General J. W. Denver, 






AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 91 

with his brigade (Third), and the Morton battery 
of four guns, to march in perfect silence from our 
lines at eight A. M., keeping well under cover as 
he approached the field; General Morgan L. 
Smith's brigade (First), with Barrett's and "Water- 
house's batteries, to move along the main road, 
keeping his force well masked in the woods to the 
left ; Brigadier General Veatch's brigade to move 
from Hurlbut's lines through the woods on the 
left of and connecting with General M. L. Smith's 
and General John A. Logan's brigades, to move 
down to Bowie Hill Cut, on the Mobile and Ohio 
Railroad, and thence forward to the left, so as to 
connect with General Denver's brigade, on the ex- 
treme right; all to march at eight A. M., with 
skirmishers well to the front ; all to keep well con- 
cealed, and, at a signal, to rush quickly on to the 
ridge, thus avoiding, as much as possible, the danger 
of crossing the open field exposed to the fire of a 
concealed enemy. It was impossible beforehand to 
ascertain the force of the enemy, and nothing is 
more embarrassing than to make dispositions 
against a concealed foe occupying, as this was, a 
strong natural position. 

The preliminary arrangements having thus been 
made, two twenty-four pound Parrot rifle guns, of 
Silversparre's battery, under the immediate super- 
vision of Major Taylor, chief of artillery, were 



92 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

moved silently through the forest to a point behind 
the hills, from the top of which could be seen the 
house and ground to be contested. The guns were 
unlimbered, loaded with shell, and moved by hand 
to the crest. At the proper time Sherman gave 
the order to Major Taylor to commence firing and 
demolish the house, or render it decidedly uncom- 
fortable to its occupants. About a dozen shells, 
well directed, soon accomplished this; then desig- 
nating a single shot of the twenty-four pound Par- 
rot gun of Silversparre as a signal for the brigades 
to advance, he waited till all were in position, and 
ordered the signal, when the troops dashed forward 
in fine style, crossed the field, drove the enemy 
across the ridge and field beyond into another 
dense and seemingly impenetrable forest. The 
enemy was evidently surprised, and only killed two 
of our men, and wounded nine. After he had 
reached the ridge, he opened on us with a two-gun 
battery on the right and another from the front and 
left, doing but little harm, but killing three of 
General Veatch's men. With the artillery, the 
rebel guns were soon silenced, and by ten A. M. the 
Union troops were masters of the position. Gen- 
erals Grant and Thomas were present, and wit- 
nessed the movement, which was admirably execu- 
ted, all the officers and men keeping their places 
like true soldiers. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 93 

Immediately throwing forward a line of skir- 
mishers in front of each brigade, we fonnd the 
enemy reenforcing his front skirmishers ; but the 
woods were so dense as to completely mask his 
operations. An irregular piece of cleared land lay 
immediately in front of General Denver's position, 
and extended obliquely to the left, in front of and 
across Morgan Smith's and Veatch's brigades, 
which were posted on the right and left of the main 
Corinth Road, leading directly south. For some 
time it was doubtful whether the artillery fire had 
come from the enemy's fixed or field batteries, and 
Sherman intended to move forward at great hazard 
to ascertain the fact, when, about three P. M., our 
troops were startled by the rattle of musketry along 
their whole picket line, followed by the cheers and 
yells of an attacking column. 

The artillery, and Mann's battery of Veatch's 
brigade, had been judiciously posted by Major 
Taylor, and before the yell of the enemy had died 
away arose their reply in the cannon's mouth. The 
firing was very good, rapid, well directed, and the 
shells burst in the right place. Our pickets were 
at first driven in a little, but soon recovered their 
ground and held it, and the enemy retreated in 
utter confusion. On further examination of the 
ground, with its connection on the left with Gen- 
eral Hurlbut, and right resting on Bowie Hill Cut, 



94 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

it was determined to intrench. The lines were laid 
out after dark, and the work substantially finished 
by morning. 

All this time the Federal forces were within one 
thousand three hundred yards of the enemy's main 
intrenchments, which were absolutely concealed 
by the dense foliage of the oak forest, and without 
a real battle, which at that time was to be avoided, 
we could not push out our skirmishers more than 
two hundred yards to the front. For our secu- 
rity, Sherman was obliged to destroy two farm- 
houses, both of which had been loop-holed and 
occupied by the enemy. By nine A. M. of the 
29th, the works of the Unionists were substantially 
done, and their artillery in position, and at four 
P. M. the siege-train was brought forward, and 
Colonel McDowell's brigade, (second,) of Sher- 
man's division, had come from their former lines 
at Russell's, and had relieved General John A. 
Logan's brigade. 

This officer during two days held the critical 
ground on the right, extending down to the rail- 
road. All the time he had in his front a large force 
of the enemy, but so dense was the foliage, that he 
could not reckon their strength, save from what he 
could see on the railroad track. 

Sherman had then his whole division in a slightly 
curved line, facing south, his right resting on the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 95 

Mobile and Ohio Railroad, near a deep cut, known 
as Bowie Hill Cut, and left resting on the main 
Corinth Road, at the crest of the ridge, there con- 
necting with General Hurlbut, who, in turn, on 
his left, connected with General Davies, and so on 
down the whole line to its extremity. So near 
was the enemy that the sound of his drums, and 
sometimes of voices in command, could be heard, 
and the railroad cars arriving and departing at 
Corinth were easily distinguished. The arrivals 
and departures were so frequent, especially on the 
night of the 29th, that the suspicions of General 
Sherman were aroused. 

Before daybreak he instructed the brigade com- 
manders and field officers of the day, to feel for- 
ward as far as possible, but all reported the enemy's 
pickets still in force in the dense woods to the front. 
But about six A. M., a curious explosion, sounding 
like a volley of large siege-guns, followed by others 
singly, and in twos or threes, arrested the attention 
of the Union commanders, and soon after a large 
smoke arose from the direction of Corinth, when 
Sherman telegraphed to Halleck to ascertain the 
cause. He answered that he could not explain it, 
but ordered Sherman to advance his division and 
feel the enemy, if still in his front. He immediately 
put in motion two regiments of each brigade, by 
different roads, and soon after, followed with the 
whole division, infantry, artillery, and cavalry. 



96 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Somewhat to his surprise, the enemy's chief 

redoubt was found within thirteen hundred yards 
of his line of intrenehments, but completely masked 
by the thick forest and undergrowth. Instead oi' 
having as was supposed, a continuous line of in- 
trenehments encircling Corinth, his defences con- 
sisted of separate redoubts, connected in part by 
a parapet and ditch, and in part by shallow rifle-pits, 
the trees being felled so as to give a good field of 
fire to and beyond the main road. 

General M. L. Smith's brigade moved rapidly 
down the main road, entering the first redoubt of 
the enemy at seven A. M. It was completely evacu- 
ated, and he pushed on into Corinth, and beyond 
to College Hill, there awaiting the orders of Sher- 
man. General Denver entered the enemy's lines 
at the same time, seven A. M., at a point midway 
between the wagon and railroads, and proceeded 
on to Corinth, about three miles from the camp, 
and Colonel McDowell kept further to the right, 
near the Mobile and Ohio Railroad. By eight 
A. M. Sherman's division was at Corinth, and 
beyond. 

On the whole ridge extending from our camp 
into Corinth, and to the right and left., could be 
seen the remains of the abandoned camps of the 
enemy, flour and provisions scattered about, and 
every thing indicating a speedy and eon fused retreat. 



AND HIS CAM I' Ale. 



In the town itself many houses were still burning, 
and the ruins of warehouses and buildings, con- 
taining commissary and other confederate stores, 
were still smouldering; bul there still remained 
piles of cannon balls, shells and Bhot, sugar, rno- 
, beans, rice and other property, which the 
enemy had failed to carry off or destroy. Major 
Fisher, of the Ohio Fifty-fourth, was left in Co- 
rinth with a provost guard, to prevent pillage and 
protect the public -tore-: still left. 

From the best information [ticked up from the 
few citizen- who remained in Corinth, it appeared 
that the enemy had for some days been removing 
their sick, and valuable stores, and had sent away 
on railroad cars a part of their effective force on 
the night of the 28th. But, of course, even the 
vast amount of their rolling stock eon Id not carry 
away an army of a hundred thousand men. 

The enemy was, therefore, compelled to march 
away, commencing on the night of the 29th — the 
columns filling all the roads leading south and 
west all night — the rear guard tiring the train 
which led to the explosions and conflagration, 
which gave the first notice that Corinth was to be 
evacuated. The enemy did not relieve his pickets 
that morning, and many of them were captured 
who did n<»t have tie- slightest intimation of their 
purpose. 



98 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Finding Corinth, evacuated hy the enemy, Sher- 
man ordered General M. L. Smith to pnrsne on 
the Ripley Road, by which it appeared they had 
taken the bulk of their artillery. 

Captain Hammond, Sherman's chief of staff, was 
with General Smith's brigade, and pushed the pur- 
suit up to the bridges and narrow causeway by 
which the bottom of Tuscumbia Creek is passed. 
The enemy opened with canister on the small 
party of cavalry, and burned every bridge, leaving 
the woods full of straggling soldiers. Many of 
these were gathered up and sent to the rear, bat 
the main army had escaped across Tuscumbia 
Creek, and further pursuit by a small party would 
have been absurd, and Sherman kept his division 
at College Hill, until he received General Thomas' 
orders to return and resume their camps of the 
day before, which they did, slowly and quietly, in 
the cool of the evening. 

The evacuation of Corinth at the time, and in 
the manner in which it was done, was a clear back- 
down from the high and arrogant tone heretofore 
assumed by the rebels. The ground was of their 
own choice. The fortifications, though poor and 
indifferent, were all they supposed necessary to oui 
defeat, as they had two months to make them, with 
an immense force to work at their disposal. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 99 

Sherman's division had constructed seven distinct 
intrenched camps since they left Shiloh, the men 
working cheerfully and well all the time, night and 
day. Hardly had they finished one camp before 
they were called on to move forward and build 
another. Their intrenchments here and at Rus- 
sell's, each built substantially in one night, were 
stronger works than the much boasted forts of 
the enemy at Corinth. 

Our line of march was along a strongly marked 
ridge, followed by the Purely and Corinth Road, 
and after leaving the " Locusts" the pickets were 
continually fighting. There was hardly an hour, 
night or day, for two weeks, without the exchange 
of hostile shots. We slowly and surely gained 
ground with a steadiness that presaged the inevitable 
result. 

CONGRATULATORY ORDER OF GENERAL SHERMAN. 

Head-quarters Fifth Division Army of Tennessee,} 
Camp Before Corinth, May 31, 1862. $" 

Order No. 30. 

The General commanding Fifth division, right wing, takes this 
occasion to express to the officers and men of his command his 
great satisfaction with them for the courage, steadiness and great 
industry displayed by them during the past month. 

Since leaving our memorable camp at Shiloh, we have occupied 
and strongly intrenched seven distinct camps in a manner to ex- 
cite the admiration and high commendation of General Halleck. 



100 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The division has occupied the right flank of the granu army, 
thereby being more exposed and calling for more hard work and 
larger details than from any other single division — and the 
Commanding General reports that his officers and men have 
promptly and cheerfully performed their duty, and have sprung 
to the musket or spade, according to the occasion, and have just 
reason to claim a large share in the honors that are due the 
whole army for the glorious victory terminating at Corinth yes- 
terday, and it affords him great pleasure to bear full testimony to 
the qualities of his command that have achieved this victory — a 
victory none the less decisive because attended with comparatively 
little loss of life. 

But a few days ago a large and powerful rebel army lay at 
Corinth, with outposts extending to our very camp at Shiloh. 
They held two railroads extending north and south, east and west 
across the whole extent of their country, with a vast number of 
locomotives and cars to bring to them speedily and certainly 
their reinforcements and supplies. They called to their aid all 
their armies from every quarter, abandoning the sea coast and 
the great river Mississippi, that they might overwhelm us with 
numbers in the place of their own choosing. They had chosen 
leaders — men of high reputation and courage, and they dared us 
to leave the cover of our iron-clad gunboats to come to fight them 
in their trenches, and still more dangerous swamps and ambus- 
cades of their southern forests. Their whole country, from 
Richmond to Memphis, and Nashville to Mobile, rung with their 
taunts and boastings, as to how they would immolate the Yankees 
if they dared leave the Tennessee River. They boldly and defi- 
antly challenged us to meet them at Corinth. We accepted the 
challenge, and came slowly, and without concealment, to the very 
ground of their selection ; and they have fled away. We yester- 
day marched, unopposed, through the burning embers of their 
destroyed camps and property, and pursued them to their swamps, 
until burning bridges plainly confessed that they had fled and not 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 101 

marched away for better ground. It is a victory as brilliant and 
important as any recorded in history, and every officer and sol- 
dier who lent his aid has just reason to be proud of his part. 

No amount of sophistry or words from the leaders of the rebel- 
lion can succeed in giving the evacuation of Corinth, under the 
circumstances, any other title than that of a signal defeat, more 
humiliating to them and their cause than if we had entered the 
place over the dead and mangled bodies of their soldiers. We 
are not here to kill and slay, but to vindicate the honor and just 
authority of that government which has been bequeathed to us by 
our honored fathers, and to whom we would be recreant if we 
permitted their work to pass to our children, marred and spoiled 
by ambitious rebels. 

The general commanding, while thus claiming for his division 
their just share in this glorious result, must, at the same time, 
remind them that much yet remains to be done, and that all must 
still continue the same vigilance and patience, industry and obe- 
dience, till the enemy lays down his arms and publicly acknowl- 
edges, for their supposed grievances, that they must obey the laws 
of their country, and not attempt its overthrow by threats, by 
cruelty, and by war. They must be made to feel and acknow- 
ledge the power of a just and mighty nation. This result can 
only be accomplished by a cheerful and ready obedience to the 
orders and authority of our leaders, in whom we now have just 
reason to feel the most implicit confidence. That the Fifth divi- 
sion of the right wing will do this, and that in due time we will 
go to our families and friends at home, is the earnest prayer and 
wish of your immediate commander. 

W. T SHERMAN, Major General. 

J. H. Hammond, A. A. G., Chief of Staff. 

INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE SIEGE OP CORINTH. 

When the Federal lines advanced on the 28th 
of April, a battery was planted on an eminence 



102 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

commanding a considerable portion of the country, 
but completely shrouded by a dense thicket. 
Scouts were sent out to discover the exact position 
of the rebels, and were but a short distance in 
advance, to give a signal as to the direction to fire, 
if any were discovered. 

One of the rebel commanders, unaware of their 
presence, called around him a rebel brigade, and 
commenced addressing them in something like the 
following strain : 

"Sons of the South — We are here to defend our homes, our 
wives and daughters, against the horde of vandals who have 
come here to possess the first and violate the last. Here, upon 
this sacred soil, we have assembled to drive back the Northern 
invaders — drive them into the Tennessee. Will you follow me ? 
If we cannot hold this place, we can defend no spot of our Con- 
federacy. Shall we strike the invaders back, and strike to death 
the men who would desecrate our homes ? Is there a man so 
base among those who hear me as to retreat from the contemp- 
tible foe before us ? I will never blanch before their fire, nor 



At this interesting period the signal was given, 
and six shells fell in the vicinity of the gallant 
officer and his men, who suddenly forgot their 
fiery resolves, and fled in confusion to their breast- 
works. 

THE EAGLE OF CORINTH. 

" The finest thing I ever saw," said Mr. Howe, 
" was a live American eagle, carried by the Eighth 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 103 

Wisconsin in the place of a flag. It wonld fly over 
the enemy during the hottest of the fight, then 
would return and seat himself upon his pole, clap 
his pinions, shake his head and start again. Many 
and hearty were the cheers that arose from our 
lines as the old fellow would sail around, first to the 
right, then to the left, and always return to his 
post, regardless of the storm of leaden hail that 
was around him. Something seemed to tell us 
that the battle was to result in our favor, and when 
the order was given to charge, every man went at 
them with fixed bayonets, and the enemy scattered 
in all directions, leaving us in possession of the 
battle-field." * 

The incident just narrated awoke the harp of 
the poet, who thus sang : 

Did you hear of the fight at Corinth, 

How we whipped out Price and Van Dorn ! 

Ah ! that day we earned our rations — 

(Our cause was God's and the Nation's, 
Or we'd have come out forlorn!) 

A long and a terrible day ! 

And, at last, when night grew gray, 

By the hundred there they lay, 

(Heavy sleepers, you'd say) 

That wouldn't wake on the morn. 



* Letter from Chester D. Howe, Company E, Twelfth Illinois 
Volunteers. 



104 



Our staff was bare of a flag, 
We didn't carry a rag 

In those brave marching days— 
Ah ! no ; but a finer thing ! 
With never a cord or string, 
An eagle, of ruffled wing, 

And an eye of awful gaze ! 

The grape it rattled like hail, 

The minies were dropping like rain, 

The first of a thunder shower — 

The wads were blowing like chaff, 
(There was pounding, like floor and flail, 

All the front of our line ! ) 
So we stood it, hour after hour — 
But our eagle he felt fine ! 
'Twould have made you cheer and laugh 
To see, through that iron gale, 

How the old fellow'd swoop and sail 
Above the racket and roar — 
To right and to left he'd soar, 

But ever came back, without fail, 

And perched on his standard staff. 

All that day, I tell you true, 

They had pressed us steady and fair, 
■* * * * * * * 

But our cross-fire stunned them in flank, 
They melted, rank after rank — 
(O'er them, with terrible poise, 

Our bird did circle and wheel! ) 

Their whole line began to waver- 
Now for the bayonet, boys ! 

On them with the cold steel! 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. lQ~i 

Ah! well, you know how it ended — 

We did for them, there and then, 
But their pluck, throughout, was splendid, 

They stood, to the last, like men ; 
Only a handful of them 

Found the way back again. 

Red as blood, o'er the tow^ 

The angry sun went down, 

Firing flag-staff and vane — 
And our eagle, as for him, 
There, all ruffled and grim, 

He sat, o'erlooking the slain. H. H. B. 

On th« 20th of June, Holly Springs, on the rail- 
road from Jackson, Tenn., to New Orleans, was 
taken possession of by General Sherman's forces, 
who destroyed the bridge and several pieces of 
trestle work on the Mississippi Central Railroad, in 
order to prevent surprise b}^ the rebels. Previous 
to the evacuation of the place, the enemy had 
removed their machinery for the repairing and 
making of arms to Atlanta, Ga. 

Memphis, which surrendered soon after the 
evacuation of Corinth, was at once occupied by 
the Union troops. General Grant appointed Sher- 
man to the command of that city, and on the 21st 
of July he took the post of military commander 
of Memphis. He ordered the most urgent meas- 
ures to be adopted against all guerrillas, and soon 
put a stop to the contraband trade which was carried 
on in that city. 



106 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

On the 28th of July, by orders from General 
Grant, he took possession of all unoccupied build- 
ings, stores and manufactories within the city of 
Memphis, and collected the rents of such property 
for the United States Government. 




CHAPTER V. 

SHERMAN AND THE CAMPAIGNS AGAINST VICKSBURG. 

preparations for the vicksburg campaign sher- 
man's command sails for vicksburg arrival at 

Johnston's landing — first assault upon vicks- 

burg mcclernand takes command — sherman's 

congratulatory order to his troops capture 

of arkansas post steele's bayou expedition — 

feint on the north of vicksburg fight at four- 
teen mile creek advance upon jackson occu- 
pation of the city battle of big black river — 

takes possession of walnut hills— second assault 
upon vicksburg surrender occupation pur- 
suit after johnston second occupation of jack- 
son recommended by general grant for promo 

tion as brigadier general of regular army. 

During the autumn of 1862, General Sherman, 
who had been placed in command of the Fifteenth 
Army Corps, consisting of four divisions, and known 
as the "Eight Wing of the Army of the Ten- 
nessee," began to make preparations for the 
Vicksburg campaign. 

On the 28th of November, the advance of the 
army was made by the Jackson and Grand Junction 
Railroad, and proceeded steadily on their march 



108 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

until the surrender of Holly Springs, December 
20th, when Grant was compelled to fall back to 
preserve his line of communication. The plan was 
for Grant to threaten an attack byway of Jackson, 
while Sherman assaulted the defences of Walnut 
Hill, by way of the Yazoo River. 

On the 20th of December, General Sherman 
embarked his forces at Memphis. The fleet con- 
sisted of one hundred and twenty-seven steamers, 
besides gun-boats. General Sherman and staff 
arrived on the "Forest Queen" at Friar's Point 
on the following day. 

General Sherman was entirely unaware that 
Grant had retraced his steps from Oxford to Holly 
Springs, and as Grant had intended moving upon 
Jackson by the railroad, and thence to Yicksburg, 
a combination of the forces under Grant and 
Sherman was needed to secure success. 

General Sherman proceeded with a part of his 
expedition, and landed a small force, under Gen- 
eral M. L. Smith, at Milliken's Bend. They pro- 
ceeded to Delhi and Dallas, on the Yicksburg and 
Texas Railroad, destroyed the depots and part of 
the track, cutting off the retreat of the rebels from 
Yicksburg. 

On the 26th of December, the troops under Sher- 
man arrived at Johnston's Landing, near the mouth 
of the Yazoo River, and prepared for an assault 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS 109 

upon the northern works that defended the city of 
Vicksburg. 

From Johnston's Landing, Vicksbnrg is pecu- 
liarly situated, being a hill, with a line of hills sur- 
rounding it at a distance of several miles, and 
extending from Haines' Bluff, on the Yazoo Elver, 
to Warrentown, ten miles beyond the city, on the 
Mississippi River. The low country in the vicinity 
is swampy, filled with sloughs, bayous and lagoons. 

pTo approach Vicksburg with a large force by this 
route, even in times of peace, would be a matter 
of great difficulty, and with an enemy in front, it 
was almost an impossibility. 

On the 27th of December, the troops formed in 
line of battle, and prepared to assault the enemy's 
works. By night they had succeeded in driving 
the rebels about a quarter of a mile from their 
former position. 

On the following day the Union troops showed 
great bravery, but Grant's forces failing to arrive, 
as Sherman had confidently expected, entirely dis- 
arranged the plan of battle. Owing to the rein- 
forcement of the enemy by the troops that had fled 

• before Grant's advance, they were well prepared to 
resist Sherman's men, and the rebels refused to 
come from behind their works, employing the time 
during the night in throwing up earthworks in 
every direction. Sherman's small force had much 



110 

to contend against, the woods being filled with 
sharp-shooters, the position of the enemy being 
made doubly strong by nature and art, and the 
rebels outnumbering them. 

On Monday, the 29th, our troops made several 
charges on the enemy's works, but all to no use, 
and the men fell back. General Blair's brigade, 
headed by himself, on foot, particularly distin- 
guished itself, and of the eight hundred and 
twenty-five men engaged in this assault, six hun- 
dred and forty-two were killed, wounded and 
captured. 

After the burial of the dead and removal of the 
wounded, Sherman gave orders for his troops to 
reembark. 

On the 1st of January General McClernand 
arrived, and as he ranked General Sherman by 
over a month in the date of his commission, he 
assumed command, and ordered the troops to 
withdraw from the Yazoo River and return to the 
Mississippi River. The title of the army was 
changed by General McClernand, and General 
Sherman issued the following: order : 



ee, i 



Head-Quarters, Right Wing Army of Tennessee, 
Steamer Forest Queen, 

Milliken's Bend, January 4, 1863 

General Orders No. 5. 

Pui-suaiit to the terms of General Orders No. 1, made this day 

by General McClernand, the title of our army ceases to exist, and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. Ill 

constitutes in the future the Army of the Mississippi, composed 
of two "army .corps," one to be commanded by General G. W. 
Morgan, and the other by myself. In relinquishing the command 
of the Army of the Tennessee, and restricting my authority to 
my own corps, I desire to express to all commanders, to soldiers 
and officers recently operating before Vicksburg, my hearty 
thanks for the zeal, alacrity and courage manifested by them on 
all occasions. We failed in accomplishing one purpose of our 
movement — the capture of Vicksburg — but we were part of a 
whole. Ours was but a part of a combined movement, in which 
others were to assist. We were on time ; unforeseen contingencies 
must have delayed the others. We have destroyed the Shreve- 
port Road ; we have attacked the defences of Vicksburg, and 
pushed the attack as far as prudence would justify ; and having 
found it too strong for our single column, we have drawn off in 
good order and good spirits, ready for any new move. A new 
commander is now here to lead you. He is chosen by the Presi- 
dent of the United States, who is charged by the Constitution to 
maintain and defend it, and he has the undoubted right to select 
his own agents. I know that all good officers and soldiers will 
give him the same hearty support and cheerful obedience they 
have hitherto given me. There are honors enough in reserve for 
all, and work enough too. Let each do his appropriate part, and 
our nation must in the end emerge from this dire conflict purified 
and ennobled by the fires which now test its strength and purity. 
All officers of the general staff now attached to my person will 
hereafter report in person and by letter to Major General McCler- 
nand, commanding the Army of the Mississippi, on board the 
steamer Tigress, at our rendezvous at Gaines' Landing, and at 
Montgomery Point. 

By order of Major General W. T. SHERMAN. 

J. H. Hammond, A. A. G. 

General Sherman had with Admiral Porter de- 
vised a plan for the capture of Arkansas Post, on 



112 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the Arkansas River. Sherman was prevented from 
assuming the chief command of the military por- 
tion of this expedition — McClernand having ar- 
rived — but to Sherman was due the planning and 
carrying out of the attack. 

The Thirteenth and Fifteenth corps left the 
Yazoo River, and passed up the Mississippi River 
to Montgomery Point, opposite the mouth of the 
White River. On the 9th of January, 1863, the 
iron-clads and transports moved up the White 
River, and after ascending that stream for fifteen 
miles, the fleet passed through a cut-oft' to the 
left, into the Arkansas River. 

From General McClernand's and General Ho- 
vey's oflicial reports we learn that the former 
assumed the command of the Thirteenth and 
Fifteenth army corps, on the 4th of January, 1863, 
after they had retired from Vicksburg. McCler- 
nand sailed with them, for the purpose of reducing 
Fort Hindman, which had been laboriously and 
skilfully enlarged and strengthened, since the com- 
mencement of the rebellion ; it formed the key to 
Little Rock, the capital of the State of Arkansas, 
and the extensive and valuable country drained by 
the Arkansas River, from which hostile detach- 
ments were constantly sent to obstruct the navi- 
gation of the Mississippi River and thereby our 
communications. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 113 

The forces landed at BTotril's farm, on the left 
bank of the river, three miles below the fore, at 
five o'clock, P. M., on the 9th of January, and 
the work of disembarking was busily continued 
until noon the next day, when it was completed. 

On the 10th instant, the enemy abandoned a line 
of rifle-pits about half a mile above the levee, 
under stress of fire of one of the gunboats. 

General McClernand communicated with Gen- 
eral Sherman, and suggested to him the eligibility 
of the river-road, from which he might diverge at 
or near the levee, in making a detour for the pur- 
pose of investigating the upper side of the fort. 
His column was put in motion at eleven o'clock 
A. M., but diverging below that point, the head of 
it, consisting of General Hovey's brigade of Gen- 
eral Steele's division, after meeting and dispersing a 
strong picket of the enemy, soon encountered a 
swam]), about a fourth of a mile wide. Passing this 
swamp with much difficulty, the brigade rested 
upon an open space called " Little Prairie." Several 
small squads of the enemy's cavalry hovered in their 
advance and were captured. About two o'clock 
the column was ordered to return to the landing, 
where it arrived just before dark, and bivouacked 
for the night. 

Hardly had the camp-fires been lighted, when 
orders were received to move immediately by 



114 

another route and by a night-march to their original 
destination. Over marshy ground, thickly covered 
with wood, without a guide and with the only di- 
rection, " to take a north-westerly course," they 
set out. Fortunately the North Star was in full 
view, and by its aid they were enabled to reach the 
point indicated, after a fatiguing march of more 
than eight miles. It was after two o'clock in the 
morning when they reached the deserted camps 
of the enemy. 

By half past ten o'clock A. M., the two corps 
were in position, and were ready to commence the 
attack. General Steele's division formed the ex- 
treme right of the line of battle, and General 
Stuart's, and General A. J. Smith's divisions were 
formed on its left. 

Port Arkansas, a small village, the county seat 
of Arkansas county, is situated on elevated ground 
above the reach of floods, and defining for some 
miles, the left bank of the river. 

Fort Hindman, a square, full-bastioned fort, 
is erected within this village, upon the bank of 
the river, at the head of a bend resembling a 
horse-shoe. 

At one o'clock P. M., the gun-boats opened fire, 
immediately followed by artillery. By half past 
one o'clock Hovey's and Thayer's brigades, and 
Giles A. Smith's and T. K. Smith's brigades 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 115 

of General Sherman's corps, had crossed in double 
quick time, a narrow space of cleared ground, in 
their front, and gained position in a belt of woods 
extending irregularly some three hundred yards, 
quite to the enemy's rifle-pits ; checked here, for a 
time, by a sudden and severe lire of musketry and 
artillery from the cover of the enemy's works, they 
boldly resumed and continued their advance, sup- 
ported by Blair's brigade, as a reserve, until they 
had approached within short musket-range of the 
enemy's line, and found shelter in some ravines 
lined by underbrush and fallen timber. 

In executing this movement General Hovey was 
wounded by a shell, but continued upon the field 
in the gallant discharge of duty. 

At half past four o'clock, after three hours and 
a half hard fighting, the Union forces entered and 
took possession of all the enemy's defences, Gen- 
eral Churchill having surrendered the post, its 
armament, garrison, and all its, stores to General 
McClernand. 

During the early part of 1863, Sherman took a 
very important part in one of the expeditions sent 
out by General Grant for the purpose of drawing 
off the enemy's attention from the main operations. 

On the 16th of March, 1863, General Grant 
ordered General Stuart to prepare the infantry of 
his division — the Second division of the Fifteenth 



116 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Army Corps — to move at daylight the next mor- 
ning. Leaving everything, except ammunition, 
arms, and rations, they embarked and proceeded 
up the Mississippi to Eagle Bend. Admiral Porter 
and General Grant had made a personal recon- 
noissance of a proposed route to the Yazoo above 
Haines' Bluff, a few days previous, and General 
Sherman was ordered to take charge of the open- 
ing of the route. General Sherman left at once 
with the pioneer corps of Stuart's division and the 
Eighth Missouri. General Grant received dis- 
patches in the evening from Admiral Porter, an- 
nouncing that his gunboats were meeting with great 
success, and requested that the land force be sent 
at once, and General Stuart was ordered to imme- 
diately proceed with his division. The distance 
by land from the Mississippi, along the Muddy 
Bayou, is about one mile. And the infantry were 
ordered to cross by this route to Steele's Bayou, it 
being impossible to take anything but small steam- 
ers through the bayou. On reaching Eagle Bend, 
it was ascertained that two Ions; bridges were neces- 
sary to the movement of troops, and the building 
of these occupied a clay and a half. When com- 
pleted, the division marched across Steele's Bayou, 
and a part of the First brigade embarked on the 
Silver Wave, and started up through the wilderness 
of forest and water. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 117 

Three streams, Steele's Bayou, Deer Creek, and 
the Sunflower, traverse the country north of the 
Yazoo, for fifty miles, between the Mississippi and 
the line of railway from Memphis to Jackson, 
emptying into the Yazoo. Their course is very 
tortuous, like the streams in the wild marshes. 

The fleet going up the Yazoo River seven miles, 
thence up Steele's Bayou twelve miles, came to 
Muddy Bayou, which runs across from the Missis- 
sippi into Steele's. The troops came over on floating 
bridges, and embarked at this point, and from here 
were transported up Steele's and Black Bayou about 
twenty miles to Hill's plantation, and marched 
thence twenty-one miles on a levee north along 
Deer Creek, nearly to Boiling Fork. It was pro- 
posed to proceed on that creek a distance of seven 
miles, until the Sunflower was reached. Once upon 
that stream, they could reach the Yazoo, between 
Haines' Bluff and Yazoo City, and would be in a 
position to operate against the enemy at various 
points with great effect. 

After a reconnoissance far enough to learn that 
gunboats could pass from the Yazoo into Steele's 
Bayou, Admiral Porter moved up the Bay, and 
General Sherman with a division of his army corps 
formed the land force. This was on the 15th, and 
before night on the 16th, the advance of the gun- 
boats and land force were at Muddy Bayou. They 



118 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

arrived at Eagle Bend on the 17th. The 18th, 
and until noon of the following day, the men 
were employed in building the two bridges before 
referred to, and the troops were speedily trans- 
ported to the place of rendezvous. They passed 
up the Black Bayou into Deer Creek, without any 
obstruction from the enemy until the 20th, when 
the rebels commenced annoying them with sharp- 
shooters, and by felling trees in the creeks. They 
could proceed no further that night, and in the 
morning, they found considerable obstruction in 
the river, and an enemy, some 600 strong, with a 
field battery of rifles, disputing his passage. They 
were kept busy the greater part of the day, making 
but half a mile progress. 

The Admiral sent a dispatch back to General 
Sherman, stating the condition of affairs, and a 
force was immediately sent to the relief of the 
gunboats. They made a forced march, skirmishing 
a part of the way, and arrived on the evening of 
the 22d, a distance of twenty-one miles, over a 
terrible road. The enemy had been largely reen- 
forced during the day, and now numbered some 
5,000 men. The boats were surrounded with rebels, 
who had cut down trees before and behind them, 
were moving up artillery, and making every exer- 
tion to cut off" retreat and capture our boats. For 
a mile and a half, the creek was full of obstructions. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS, 119 

Heavy batteries were on its bank, supported by a 
large force, and to advance was impossible ; to re- 
treat seemed almost hopeless. The second night 
was passed on board the ship without sleep. 
The infantry had marched twenty-one miles with- 
out rest, but they, with their energetic leader, kept 
a successful watch of the boats and their valuable 
artillery. 

At seven o'clock on the morning of the 22nd, 
General Sherman received a dispatch from Admiral 
Porter, stating his perilous condition, and he at 
once marched with his Second brigade, and a 
part of the First. About midday the enemy 
commenced moving upon the Union troops, with 
the purpose of reaching the bank of the creek be- 
low the gunboats and below the infantry. General 
Sherman was some six miles distant. The rebels 
had advanced with about 4,000 men, and came 
down with the intention of turning his right and 
reaching the creek below. The gunboats opened 
fire upon them, which embarrassed their move- 
ments and considerably retarded them. They 
J debouched through the wood and became engaged 
with the skirmishers. The fight was beginning to 
be in good earnest, but the enemy were gaining 
ground. The object was to pass our forces, and 
not a battle. As soon as General Sherman heard 
[the first firing of the gunboats, he urged his men 



120 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

forward, and after an hour's hard fighting, the ad- 
vance came upon a body of the enemy who had 
passed by the force which had been engaged. 
Our troops immediately opened fire upon them, 
and the enemy after fighting for a short time gave 
way. They were driven back some two miles, and 
the gunboats opened upon them thus hemmed in, 
and the day was ours. The enemy retreated, and 
the gunboats were saved. Further advance being 
deemed impracticable, the boats at once com- 
menced moving backward, and made several miles 
that evening. 

The rebels next endeavored to pass around our 
lines in the afternoon and night, and bring their 
whole force still further below, but they found 
General Stuart's forces in their way, and abandoned 
the attempt to cut off the gunboats for that day. 
During the night and the afternoon of the next 
day, skirmishing ensued, and the troops who were 
now at Hill's plantation, waited for the rebels to 
appear ; but they refused to give or receive battle, 
and our men embarked on transports and gunboats 
and returned to Miliken's Bend. 

The following we copy from an account given 
by an eye-witness : 

" Black Bayou, a narrow stream, heretofore, 
only navigated by dug-outs, was made the width 
of our steamers, with great labor of felling trees 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 121 

and sawing stumps below the surface. Every foot 
of our way was cut and torn through a dense 
forest, never before traversed by steamers. I never 
witnessed a more exciting and picturesque scene 
than the transportation, on the last day, of the 
Third brigade, by General Stuart. Crowded with 
men, the steamer, at the highest possible speed, 
pushed through overhanging trees, and short round 
curves. Sometimes wedged fast between trees, 
then sailing smoothly along, a huge cypress would 
reach out an arm and sweep the whole length of 
the boats, tearing guards and chimneys from the 
decks. The last trip through the Black Bayou was 
in a night pitchy dark and rainy. 

"While the adventure was of uncertain sue 
cess — when the result seemed almost accom- 
plished, and when our gunboats were surrounded 
with an enemy confident of victory, and their 
extrication seemed almost an impossibility — offi- 
cers and men worked with equal alacrity, whether 
in building bridges or making forced marches, 
both by day and night. The whole time was used 
in labor — constant and severe. It seems almost 
a miracle that the boats were saved. If Generals 
Sherman and Stuart, by their utmost exertions and 
labors, had forwarded their troops a single half day 
later, if the second forced march under General 
Sherman had been retarded a single hour, in all 

K 



122 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

human probability the whole force would have 
been lost." 

The advance upon Vicksburg by the Louisiana 
shore commenced shortly after this expedition. 

In order to deceive the rebels as to the precise 
direction from which be proposed to attack Vicks- 
burg, and to prevent reinforcements from being 
sent from Grand Gulf to that place, General Grant 
ordered some excellent feints to be made in all 
directions. One of these, made on the north, was 
conducted by General Sherman. His corps in 
moving from Milliken's Bend, bad been set apart 
to bring up the rear — so that it was the last to 
start upon the southern march. General Sherman 
bad made every preparation to move by April 
26th, 1863, but receiving a letter from General 
Grant with orders to delay his march, he remained 
at Milliken's Bend, until the 29th. 

On the 28th General Sherman received a letter 
in cypher, stating the time when General Grant 
proposed to attack Grand Gulf, and that could a 
feint be made on the enemy's batteries, near Haines' 
Bluff, on the Yazoo River, it would be most de- 
sirable, provided it could be done without the ill 
effect on the army and country of an appearance 
of a repulse. Accordingly General Sherman 
made the necessary orders, embarked the Second 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 123 

division on ten steam transports, and sailed for 
the Yazoo River. 

On the morning of April 29th, he proceeded 
with this force to the mouth of the Yazoo River, 
where he found several vessels ready to cooperate 
with the feigned movement. The united forces at 
once proceeded up the river, and lay for the night 
of April 29th, at the mouth of the Chickasaw 
Bayou. At an early hour the next morning, the fleet 
passed up within easy range of the enemy's batte- 
ries. The gunboats immediately made an attack 
upon the works, and for four hours a brisk demon- 
stration was kept up. At the expiration of this 
time the vessels were ordered out of range, and 
toward evening General Sherman disembarked 
his troops, in full view of the enemy, and made 
preparations as if to assault the works. The gun- 
boats reopened their fire upon the rebel defenses 
as soon as the landing was effected. 

It could be distinctly seen that the enemy was 
deceived, as they were making every preparation 
to resist an attack. This was the fulfilment of the 
plan, and Sherman and his troops reembarked dur- 
ing the night. Similar movements were made the 
next day, and also recounoissances of all the coun- 
try on both sides of the Yazoo River. 

Sherman received orders at this time to rejoin 
Grant at Grand Gulf, and ordered the two divisions 



124 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

which were at Milliken's Bend to march via Rich- 
mond, Louisiana, to a landing nearly opposite Grand 
Gulf, while he kept up the feint along the Yazoo. 
He then went down the river with the remainder 
of his troops to Young's Point, when the whole 
corps, with the exception of one division left he- 
hind as a garrison, marched to Hard Times, four 
miles above Grand Gulf, on the Louisiana shore, 
where it arrived the 6th of May, after having 
marched sixty-three miles. The troops were im- 
mediately taken across the Mississippi, and on the 
8th commenced their march into the interior. 

The Fifteenth Army Corps moved forward on 
the Edward's Station Road, and crossed the Four- 
teen Mile Creek at Dillon's plantation. Consid- 
erable skirmishing occurred while crossing the 
creek, but the rebels gave way, and the Union 
army moved on. 

On the 12th of May, General Grant ordered 
them to move towards Raymond, and on the 14th, 
the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps advanced 
upon Jackson — the march being made during a 
heavy storm of rain. The roads were in a bad 
condition, but notwithstanding this, the troops 
marched in excellent order, nearly fourteen miles, 
and engaged the enemy about noon near Jackson. 

When the movement was discovered by John- 
ston, who commanded the rebel forces at Jackson, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 125 

he determined to delay the advance as long as pos- 
sible, and meet them outside of the city, that he 
might have an opportunity to remove the property 
of the rebel government, then at Jackson. His 
forces being small in numbers, he ordered a feigned 
resistance to be made against the advance of the 
Fifteenth Army Corps by the turnpike road, with 
artillery and a small portion of infantry, while 
with the greater part of his army, he marched out 
on the Clinton Road, and about two miles and a 
half from the city engaged the Seventeenth Corps. 

The skirmishers of the Fifteenth Corps drove 
the rebels into their rifle-pits, which had been 
thrown up just outside of the city. General Sher- 
man, by a reconnoissance to his right, soon discov- 
ered the weakness of the enemy, and this flank 
movement caused an evacuation of the rebel 
position on that part of their line. 

In the meantime the Seventeenth Corps engaged 
the main portion of the enemy's force from Jack- 
son, and after a spirited contest, for more than 
two hours, defeated them, the rebels retreating 
northward along the Canton Road. 

After the army had taken possession of Jackson, 
May 14th, General Grant learned that Johnston 
had ordered Pemberton peremptorily to move out 
of Vicksburg and attack General Grant's forces in 
the rear. He at once ordered General Blair's 



126 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

division, of the Fifteenth Army Corps, to move with 
the Thirteenth Corps toward Bolton, with a 
view of marching upon Edwards' Station. The 
remainder of the Fifteenth Corps was left at Jack- 
son to destroy everything that could be used by the 
enemy in a hostile manner. On the following morn- 
ing General Grant ordered General Sherman to 
bring forward his entire command at once, and to 
move with all possible speed until he came up 
with the main forces at Bolton. The battle of 
Champion Hills, or Baker's Creek, was fought on 
the 16th by Hovey's division of McClernand's 
corps, and Logan's and Quinby's divisions (the 
latter commanded by Brigadier General M. M. 
Crocker), of McPherson's corps. 

Orders were now sent back to General Sherman 
to turn his corps toward Bridgeport, on the Black 
River, some miles north of the railroad, and to 
General Blair to join him at that place. By cross- 
ing the river at that point, General Sherman would 
be on the flank of the enemy if they made a stand 
at the railroad crossing of the river. On the even- 
ing of the 17th he reached Bridgeport, and by the 
following morning had crossed the river upon pon- 
toon bridges, and was ready to march upon Vicks- 
burg. The rebels having set fire to the railroad 
bridge, Generals McClemand and McPherson 
crossed their troops on the morning of the 18th on 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 127 

floating bridges made the previous night, General 
Sherman having the only pontoon train with him. 

From General Grant's official report, we learn 
that the march was commenced by Sherman at an 
early hour, by the Bridgeport and Vicksburg Road, 
turning to the flight when within three miles and a 
half of Vickftfcurg, to get possession of Walnut 
Hills and the Yazoo River. This was success- 
fully accomplished before the night of the 18th. 
McPherson crossed Black River above the Jackson 
Road, and came into the same road with Sherman, 
but to his rear. He arrived after nightfall with his 
advance to where Sherman turned to the risdit. 
McClernand moved by the Jackson and Vicksburg 
Road to Mount Albans, and then turned to the 
left to get into Baldwin's Ferry Road. By this 
disposition the three army corps covered all the 
ground their strength would admit of, and by the 
morniuo* of the 19th the investment of Vicksbura: 
was made as complete as could be by the forces at 
his (Grant's) command. 

During the day there was continuous skirmish- 
ing, and the commanding general was not without 
hopes of carrying the enemy's works. Relying 
upon the demoralization of the enemy, in conse- 
quence of repeated defeats outside of Vicksburg, 
General Grant ordered a general assault at two 
P. M. 



128 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHEKMAN, 

The Fifteenth Army Corps, having arrived in 
front of the enemy's works in time on the 18th 
to get a good position, were enabled to make a 
vigorous assault. The Thirteenth and Seventeenth 
Corps succeeded no further than to gain advanced 
positions, covered from the fire of the enemy. 
The two days following were spent in perfecting 
communications with our supplies. 

On the 21st, orders were issued for a general 
assault upon the whole line, to commence at 10 
A. M. on the 22d. All the corps commanders set 
their time by that of the commanding general, that 
there should be no difference between them in 
movement of assault. Promptly at the hour desig- 
nated the three army corps then in front of the 
enemy's works commenced the assault. General 
Grant took a commanding position near McPher- 
son's front, and from which he could see all the 
advancing columns from his corps, and a portion 
of each of Sherman's and McClernand's. A por- 
tion of the commands of each succeeded in plant- 
ing their flags on the outer slopes of the enemy's 
bastions, and maintained them there until night. 
Each corps had many more men than could pos- 
sibly be used in the assault, over such ground as 
intervened between them and the enemy. More 
men could only avail in case of breaking through 
the enemy's lines, or in repelling a sortie. The 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 129 

assault was gallant in the extreme on the part of 
all the troops, but the enemy's position was too 
strong, both naturally and artificially, to be taken 
in that way. 

The assault of this clay proved the quality of the 
soldiers of this army. Without entire success, and 
with heavy loss, there was no murmuring or com- 
plaining, no falling back, nor other evidence of 
demoralization. 

From the 22d of May until the 25th of June no 
attempt upon the city of airy serious nature was 
made, with the exception of the attack of the gun- 
boat Cincinnati, for the purpose of silencing one 
of the land batteries. 

The progress of the mining operations was such 
that a fort on the right of the Jackson Road was 
blown up on the 25th of June. 

After the failure of the 22d, General Grant deter- 
mined upon a regular siege. The troops, now 
being fully awake to the necessities of this, worked 
diligently and cheerfully. The work progressed 
rapidly and satisfactorily until the 3d of July, when 
all was about ready for a final assault. 

On the afternoon of the 3d of July a letter was 
received from Lieutenant General Pemberton, com- 
manding the Confederate forces at Vicksburg, 
proposing an armistice, and the appointment of 
commissioners to arrange terms for the capitulation 



130 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

of the place. The correspondence resulted id 
the surrender of the city and garrison of Vicksburg 
at 10 o'clock A. M., July 4th, 1863. 

The rebel General Johnston crossed the Big 
Black River with a portion of his force, and every 
thing indicated that he would make an attack 
about the 25th of June. The position of the Union 
army in front of Vicksburg having been made as 
strong against a sortie from the enemy as his works 
were against an assault, General Sherman was 
placed in command of all troops designated to look 
after Johnston. 

About- two weeks before the surrender of Vicks- 
burg, Johnston threatened the rear of the besieg- 
ing army with a large rebel force. Grant at once 
sent the following message to General Sherman : 
"You must whip Johnston fifteen miles from here." 
But Johnston drew back upon Jackson, and Sher- 
man was notified to be ready to march against the 
latter place on the 6th of July. Grant, in his offi- 
cial report, says: " I placed Major General Sherman 
in command of all the troops designated to look 
after Johnston. Johnston, however, not attacking, 
I determined to attack him the moment Vicksburg 
was in our possession, and accordingly notified 
Sherman that I would again make an assault on 
Vicksburg at daylight of the 6th, and for him to 
have up supplies of all descriptions ready to move 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 131 

upon receipt of orders, if the assault should prove 
a success. His preparations were immediately 
made, and when the place surrendered on the 4th, 
two days earlier than I had fixed for the attack, 
Sherman was found ready, and moved at once with 
a force increased by the remainder of both the 
Thirteenth and Fifteenth Army Corps, and is 
at present (July 6th) investing Jackson, where 
Johnston has made a stand." 

General Sherman was now intrusted with the 
greater part of Grant's army, and his movements 
were made so quickly that General Grant tele- 
graphed to Washington, July 12th : " General 
Sherman has Jackson invested from Pearl Eiver 
on the north to the same river on the south. This 
has cut off many hundred cars from the Confede- 
racy. Sherman says he has force enough, and 
feels no apprehension about the result." 

On the 11th of July, General Sherman sent out 
a company of cavalry on a foraging expedition, 
and during the trip they ascertained that the exten- 
sive library belonging to Jeff. Davis was secreted 
in a house near by. The cavalry at once proceeded 
to the house and found thousands of volumes of 
books and several bushels of private and political 
papers belonging to the rebel President, written by 
persons North and South who had been engaged 
in the plot of inciting the rebellion. They also 



132 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

fonnd many valuable gold-headed walking canes, 
one of them presented to Davis by Franklin 
Pierce. 

On the 12th of July, General Sherman sent a 
battalion of cavalry on an expedition east of Jack- 
son, about fifteen miles, in order to destroy the 
railroad bridges, culverts, rolling stock, or anything 
else that would be of use to the rebels. 

On the following day the rebels made a sudden 
and heavy sortie from their works, and advanced 
their infantry and artillery against the right of the 
line, with the intention of breaking it. The ad- 
vance was made under cover of a dense fog, but 
thev found Sherman prepared, and were met with 
a determined resistance. General Johnston, on 
the night of the 16th of July, hastily evacuated the 
city and retreated toward the east. Sherman at 
once dispatched expeditions in all directions for the 
purpose of destroying railroads, bridges, water- 
tanks, and other valuable property belonging to 
the enemy. 

Under date of July 23d, 1863, General Grant 
says: 

" I would respectfully, but urgently, recommend 
Major General "W. T. Sherman, now commanding 
the Fifteenth Army Corps, to the position of 
Brigadier General in the Regular Army. 

" To General Sherman I am greatly indebted 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 133 

for his promptness in forwarding to me, during the 
siege of Fort Donelson, reinforcements and sup- 
plies from Paducah. At the battle of Shiloh, on 
the first day he held with raw troops the key-point 
to the landing. To his individual efforts I am 
indebted for the success of that battle. Twice hit, 
and several (I think three) horses shot under him 
on that day, he maintained his position with raw 
troops. It is no disparagement to any other officer 
to say that I do not believe there was another divi- 
sion commander on the field who had the skill and 
experience to have done it. His services as divi- 
sion commander in the advance on Corinth, I will 
venture to say, were appreciated by the new Gen- 
eral-in-chief beyond those of any other division 
commander. 

" General Sherman's arrangement as commander 
of troops in the attack on Chickasaw Bluffs, last 
December, was admirable; seeing the ground from 
the opposite side from the attack, I saw the impos- 
sibility of making it successful. The conception 
of the attack on Arkansas Post was General Sher- 
man's. His part of the execution, no one denies, 
was as good as it possibly could have been. His 
demonstration at Haines' Bluff, in April, to hold 
the enemy about Vicksburg, while the army was 
securing a foothold east of the Mississippi; his 
rapid marches to join the army afterwards ; his 



134 MA J. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

management at Jackson, Miss., in the first attack; 
his almost unequalecl march from Jackson to 
Bridgeport, and passage of Black River ; his secur- 
ing Walnut Hills on the 18th of May, and thus 
opening communications with our supplies, all 
attest his great merit as a soldier. The siege of 
Vlcksburg and last capture of Jackson and disper- 
sion of Johnston's army, entitle General Sherman 
to more credit than usually falls to the lot of one 
man to earn. The promotion of such men as 
Sherman always adds strength to our arms." 



CHAPTER VI. 

SHERMAN'S GREAT MARCH TO CHATTANOOGA, AND 
THE BATTLES OF MISSIONARY RIDGE AND LOOKOUT 
MOUNTAIN. 

BRIEF REST OF SHERMAN'S COMMAND STARTS FOR 

CHATTANOOGA NARROW ESCAPE OF SHERMAN THE 

FIGHT AT CANE CREEK — TAKES COMMAND OF THE 
ARMY OF THE TENNESSEE ARRIVES AT CHATTA- 
NOOGA BATTLE BEFORE CHATTANOOGA FIRST DAY'S 

BATTLE SECOND DAY BATTLE OF LOOKOUT MOUN- 
TAIN, THIRD DAY ACCOUNT OF AN EYE WITNESS OF 

THE BATTLE OF TUNNEL HILL BATTLE OF MISSION- 
ARY RIDGE INCIDENTS. 

After the occupation of Jackson by the Union 
array, Sherman and his men enjoyed a brief rest. 
The Fifteenth Corps during the month of Septem- 
ber was in camp along the Big Black River, 
guarding the region east of Vicksburg. Sherman 
received a telegram from Grant on the 22d of Sep- 
tember to immediately send a division to reenforce 
Rosecrans, who had just lost an important and 
severe battle with Bragg near Chattanooga. At 
four o'clock P. M. of the same day Osterhaus' divi- 
sion w^as on the road. On the 23d Sherman was 
summoned to follow with the remainder of his corps, 



136 

and his troops, which were always in readiness, 
started instantly. lie was on his way to Memphis 
on the 27th, followed by a fleet of boats transport- 
ing his two divisions. On account of the low water 
in the Mississippi, and the scarcity of fuel, the 
voyage was very slow, but with his usual energy, 
Sherman supplied the lack of fuel by frequently 
landing and gathering fence-rails, and hauling wood 
in wagons from the interior to the boats. They 
reached Memphis on the 2d, 3d and 4th of October, 
and Osterhaus' division was at that time in front of 
Corinth. 

Sherman received orders from General Halleck 
at Memphis to transport his corps and all other 
available troops in his vicinity to Athens, Ala., to 
repair the railroad, and to depend on himself for 
supplies of all kinds. Although the men were im- 
mediately ordered to work day and night on the 
railroad, Sherman saw that his troops could move 
faster by road under escort, and accordingly moved 
his entire Fourth division by land. 

The enemy were considerably alarmed by this 
eastward movement, and a body of rebel cavalry 
and infantry had concentrated at Salem and Tus- 
cumbia, with the intention of thwarting it, and, if 
possible, put a stop to Sherman joining Rosecrans. 
A body of cavalry and infantry four thousand 
strong, besides a number of pieces of artillery, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 137 

under Colonel Chalmers, made their appearance 
upon the railroad, several miles beyond Colliers- 
ville, on the morning of October 11th. As soon 
as the regular passenger train, which the enemy 
had allowed to pass, although in his power, had 
run by, the track was torn up in several places and 
the ties stacked upon the road and fired. General 
Sherman and staff, accompanied by his body- 
guard, a battalion of the Thirteenth infantry (his 
own regiment), started the same day on a special 
train, and upon approaching the fires, the troops 
on board prepared for an attack, though they did 
not disembark. On approaching Colliersville, 
which was defended by a few troops in a stockade, 
the train was fired upon, as was expected, wound- 
ing several persons. It was soon discovered that 
Chalmers was investing the place, and General 
Sherman ordered his regulars to charge directly 
upon the enemy, in order to cover the transit of the 
United States troops to the train, causing the rebels 
to flee in all directions in a perfect panic. The 
Union troops then succeeded in taking refuge 
within the stockade, and acted entirely on the 
defensive. 

Before General Sherman's arrival, the little garri- 
son had engaged the enemy in a severe conflict, and 
at the time of his appearance they had been over- 
whelmed and driven within the fortifications of the 



138 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

place. Fighting continued but a short time after 
the timely arrival of Sherman, though while it did 
the General took an active part among the men, 
and had much to do with keeping up their spirits. 
The troops reached Corinth on the night of the 
12th, and Sherman immediately sent General Blair 
to Iuka with the First division, sending the troops 
as fast as they came up to Bear Creek, a few miles 
east of Iuka. 

Sherman, foreseeing the difficulty in crossing 
the Tennessee, had written to Admiral Porter at 
Cairo to send up gun-boats as soon as the water 
would permit, and to General Allen at St. Louis 
to dispatch a ferry-boat to Eastport, which requests 
were promptly complied with. He continued, in 
accordance with orders, to work at the railroad, 
protecting his working parties from the enemy's 
attacks. He dispatched Blair with two divisions 
at the same time, to rout the enemy from Tus- 
cumbia, where they were encamped, five thousand 
strong, under Stephen Lee. They succeeded in 
driving the rebels from their position, after a 
severe fight at Cane Creek; and occupied Tus- 
curnbia on the 27th of October. 

In the mean time General Grant had been placed 
in command of the three great armies of the Ohio, 
the Cumberland and the Tennessee, and he at once 
put Sherman in command of the latter, Grant's 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 139 

former department. Sherman heard of this at 
luka, and recognized his new command. He sent 
Ewing, on the day of the fight at Cane Creek, with 
a division to cross the Tennessee, and move as 
rapidly as possible to Eastport, which he did. A 
messenger from General Grant came down the 
Tennessee over the Muscle Shoals the same day, 
with an order to " drop all work on the railroad 
east of Bear Creek," and push on to Bridgeport, 
which message exactly suited Sherman. This was 
at once executed, and the march resumed, all the 
columns bearing toward Eastport, the only practi- 
cable plan of crossing the Tennessee. Sherman 
himself crossed on the 1st of November, passed to 
the head of the column, leaving General Blair in 
charge of the rear, and marched to Rogersville and 
the Elk River. But he found the river impassable, 
and as there was no time for ferrying or building a 
bridge, there seemed no alternative but the long 
march to Fayetteville, and then to Bridgeport. 
This march accomplished, the route for each sub- 
command was prescribed, and General Sherman 
hurried in person to Bridgeport, and telegraphed 
to General Grant the position of his various 
divisions. 

On the 15th of November the head of General 
Sherman's column arrived at Chattanooga, where 
they formed a junction with the forces under 
General Thomas, on the right of the main army. 



140 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

General Grant received him very cordially, and 
at once ordered him to cross the Tennessee with 
his troops, effect a lodgment on the terminus of 
Missionary Kidge, and with a part of his command 
to make a demonstration against Lookout Moun- 
tain. Although his men were nearly exhausted 
with an almost superhuman march, Sherman says : 
"I saw enough of the condition of men and 
animals in Chattanooga to inspire me with re- 
newed energy." He at once directed Swing's divi- 
sion to make the intended demonstration, and 
returned himself to Bridgeport, rowing a boat 
down the Tennessee from Kelly's, and upon arriv- 
ing instantly started his other divisions in the order 
they had arrived. The roads were in a most 
wretched condition, and it was only by the most 
incessant labor day and night that he succeeded 
in getting three divisions concealed behind the 
hills opposite the mouth of the Chickamauga, on 
the 23d of November. His Fourth division was 
left behind at Hooker's camp, on account of the 
breaking of Brown's Ferry Bridge, and it acted 
against Lookout Mountain. He moved a small 
force silently along the river the same night, cap- 
turing every guard of the enemy's picket of twenty 
men, except one. Eight thousand men were on 
the east bank of the Tennessee by daylight of 
November 24th, and had succeeded in throwing 



AND HIS CAMFAIGNS. 141 

ap a secure rifle trench. A pontoon bridge thir- 
, teen hundred and fifty feet long was begun imme- 
diately, and at one o'clock was completed, and the 
three divisions marched across, and up from the 
river, skillfully arranged for deployment to the 
right on meeting the enemy. Nature seemed to 
favor them, for a light drizzling rain and low hang- 
ing clouds completely covered these movements, 
so that at half past three P. M., the desired posi- 
tion on Missionary Ridge was gained. They pushed 
quickly up the hill, surprised the enemy, and held 
the hill in their possession. The enemy showed 
his chagrin at finding himself flanked and out- 
manceuvered so completely by the Union troops 
by brisk artillery and musketry firing; but our 
artillery, dragged up the steep ascent, in a sharp 
engagement quickly silenced him. The second 
spur of the ridge still beyond, was now seen to be 
the chief objective point. The present position 
was strongly intrenched at once, and at midnight 
orders were received to attack the enemy at dawn. 
The plan of the battle was for Hooker to hold the 
enemy at Lookout Mountain, and if possible carry 
it, and Sherman was to vigorously assault Mission- 
ary Ridge, which was their vital point, and the 
enemy w T ould concentrate his forces to defend 
it. This would leave his centre weak, and 
Thomas would rush upon it, and penetrate it. To 



142 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN 

many who looked up at the frowning and precipi- 
tous heights which almost towered into the clouds, 
above Chattanooga, with rebel works covered thick 
with artillery, the idea of carrying them seemed 
but little short of madness, although the plan was 
simple and plausible, and proved in the end suc- 
cessful. The rebels — so secure did they feel — 
had sent out Longstreet's entire corps to Knoxviile, 
where it closely besieged the forces under Burn- 
side. "By half-past three P. M., of the 24th," 
says Grant, " the whole of the northern extremity 
of Missionary Ridge, to near the tunnel, was in 
Sherman's possession. During the night he forti- 
fied the position thus secured, making it equal, 
if not superior, in strength to that held by the 
enemy." 

From a correspondent of the ISTew York Herald, 
Mr. W. F. G. Shanks, an eye-witness, we have the 
following : 

"Tuesday morning, November 24th, was gloomy, 
threatening rain, and until quite late our forces 
remained inactive. The day was chosen for ope- 
rations on the flanks, and for that purpose Hooker 
and Sherman began to move quite early. 

"Learning that General Sherman's position was 
not over two miles and a half distant, from where 
he was stationed, General Howard sent one of 
his staff on the dangerous mission of finding: Gen- 
era! Sherman, alone. The skirmishers were then 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 143 

thrown forward until the line became dangerously 
extended, and none of General Sherman's troops 
were found. The staff-officer departed on his mis- 
sion of danger; but by keeping close to the river, 
succeeded in crossing and recrossing the gap with- 
out being captured. General Howard, on receiv- 
ing his report, ordered his division to push further 
to the left, and started out to seek General Sher- 
man. I pursued the same route and soon found 
General Sherman's troops, and was standing on 
the unfinished pontoon bridge which General Sher- 
man was building, when General Howard came up. 
The last boat of the bridge was being placed in 
the centre of the stream as General Howard ar- 
rived, and introduced himself across the slight 
gulf between the two. Sherman, on the north 
end of the bridge, dressed loosely, with a worn 
overcoat thrown around him, was directing the 
completion of the bridge ; and as soon as the 
boat was put in, sprang over and shook the hand 
of the princely Howard. It was exactly at noon. 
" I found on inquiry, that General Sherman had 
at an early hour thrown a portion of one of his di 
visions across the river, under the protection of a 
battery, and subsequently the other divisions, the 
greater portion being crossed by the steamer Dun- 
bar, which, captured two months ago at Chat- 
tanooga, had been repaired, and was now serving 



144 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN 

good and loyal purposes. Immediately on arriving 
lie had thrown up strong rifle-pits in two lines, 
covering the approach to the bridge, and adding 
much strength to a naturally strong position. The 
troops of his corps, at the hour of noon, held these 
works and were waiting for a division of the Four- 
teenth Corps, to cross the river and take up posi- 
tion in the works. This division had been sent to 
General Sherman in place of Osterhaus, who was 
acting with General Hooker, and was now beino; 
used by Sherman as a reserve. 

" This division crossed the river, and went into 
line within the works about an hour after the 
meeting between Howard and Sherman. At the 
same moment General Sherman gave his orders to 
prepare for an attack. By this hour, one o'clock 
P. M., the drizzly rain, which had been threaten- 
ing us, began to fall, and the object of the assault 
was soon hid from view. General Sherman stood 
on a prominent hill to the left of the pontoon 
bridge, and having succeeded, with the aid of two 
orderlies, and in despite of the rain, in lighting a 
cigar, stood puffing away at' one end, chewing at the 
other, and observing all that could be seen in the 
country before him. Around him were gathered 
at this time Generals Frank Blair, Morgan L. 
Smith, Ewing, John "W. Corse, and Howard. 
The troops of the several divisions were encamped 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 145 

just in front of him, while on the left and rear 
Davis' artillery was thundering over the bridge. 

" In a very quiet tone Sherman gave his orders 
to form for an assault, remarking that the enemy 
was reported heavy in his front. The formation, 
as ordered, was echelon on the left, General Morgan 
L. Smith's division being the left, John E. Smith's 
the centre, and Ewing's the right. The left was to 
keep well toward Chickamauga Creek ; * and,' 
added Sherman, ' I want you to keep up the for- 
mation, four hundred yards distance, until you get 
to the foot of the hill.' 

" 'And shall we keep it after that?' asked Gen. 
Ewing. 

" ' You may go up the hill,' answered Sherman, 
' if you like, and can.' 

" General Davis having got into position, and the 
troops having been arranged as ordered, General 
Sherman gave the orders to move to the assault. 
They were couched in very common terms; but 
which ought to be preserved? "I see Davis is up. 
I guess you may as well go on and take the hill." 
In a few moments the three columns were moving. 

But it was not destined that Tuesday should 
witness a conflict for these hills. General Sherman 
had anticipated skirmishing before reaching the 
foot of the mountain, it having been reported by 

M 



146 

citizens that the enemy held the position in strong 
force. But the foot of the hill was reached, after a 
short delay, without any serious skirmishing, only 
a few shells from Tunnel Hill passed over our 
heads, and exploded among the colored pioneers, 
who followed in our rear, doing no damage, but 
causing the negroes to lose all respect for orders to 
4 close up.' 

" The enemy made no opposition to the occupa- 
tion of the extreme end of the ridge. General Sher- 
man was in possession of this at about four o'clock 
P. M. It then appeared that the hills occupied 
were separated from Mission Ridge by a narrow 
valley, through which the railroad runs. 

" The hills occupied by Sherman were three in 
number, and semi-circular in shape, bending around 
and north of the end of Mission Ridge. The end 
of the ridge is generally and very properly called 
Tunnel Hill. It overlooks and commands the hills 
of which General Sherman found himself in peace- 
able possession ; and, on examination, he found 
that the labor still remained to be done. A close 
inspection of the ground and the enemy's position 
determined Sherman to occupy the semi-circular 
ridge with his centre and right, and throw his left 
still further to the left, and in the region of Myer's 
Mill. The division moved promptly to this posi- 
tion, and took possession of the valley from the 



AND HTS CAMPAIGNS. 147 

foot of tlie hills to Chickamauga River, securing at 
the time about one hundred rebels engaged in 
building rafts of fallen timber, with which to 
destroy our pontoon bridges. 

" Q-eneral Sherman ordered the erection of defen- 
ses on the ridge he had occupied, and finding he did 
not propose to push further during the little of 
daylight left him, I left his corps and proceeded to 
join that of General Hooker. 

" Daylight on Wednesday morning revealed the 
signal flags waving over Lookout, and the artillery 
of Sherman opening from his position on Fort 
Buckner. I had seen General Rawlins, of Grant's 
staff, dash away a few minutes before towards Fort 
Wood, and knowing that he had gone to fire the 
signal for the assault, I hurried off to see Sherman's 
fight." 

In the morning's dim light, before dawn, Sher- 
man had made the entire tour of his position, and 
his quick eye perceived that a deep valley lay 
between him and the precipitous sides of the next 
hill in the series, which was only partially cleared, 
and of which the crest was narrow and wooded. 
The enemy held the further point of the hill, with 
a strong breastwork of logs and fresh earth, 
crowded with men, and carrying two guns. He 
appeared in greater force on a still higher hil] 
beyond the enemy, and had a fair fire on the inter- 
mediate hill in dispute. From Sherman's position 



148 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the gorge between these two latter hills, through 
which passes the railroad tunnel, could not be seen, 
but it formed the natural place d' armes, where 
the enemy covered his forces to resist our turn- 
ing his right flank, and thus endangering his 
communications with the Chickamauga Depot. 

The advance was led by General Corse. "And," 
says Sherman, " the sun had hardly risen before 
his bugle sounded the 'Forward.' ' Briskly down 
into the valley and up the steep sides of the hill in 
front moved Corse's men, and succeeded in carry- 
ing a sort of secondary crest on the enemy's hill, 
which, however, was swept with a murderous fire 
from the breastworks in front. A bloody and des- 
perate conflict now raged for more than an hour, 
the line of Union troops now swaying up very near 
to the breastwork, as though it would entirely en- 
gulf it, and then dashed back, receding to its first 
conquest. Sherman's left on the outer spur of the 
ridge, and his right abreast of the tunnel, were 
hotly engaged, and drew the enemy's fire in part 
from the assaulting party on the hill-crest. The 
fight raged most furiously about ten o'clock A. M., 
and General Corse was severely wounded. Two 
brigades were sent up as reinforcements, but, owing 
to the crowded condition of the crest, they were 
obliged to fall away to the west of the hill. The 
heavy masses of the enemy in the gorge could now 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 149 

be seen moving out on their right and rear, under 
cover of the thick undergrowth. The two brigades 
which came up the hill last were so suddenly over- 
whelmed that they fell back in some confusion to 
the lower edge of the field, where they formed 
again in good order. The attacking column was 
still stubbornly held by General Corse, Colonel 
Loomis and General M. L. Smith. Of these Gen- 
eral Grant says: "The assaulting column advanced 
to the very rifle-pits of the enemy, and held their 
position firmly and without wavering. " The enemy 
showed some signs of pursuit when the two sup- 
porting brigades fell back, but by the well-directed 
fire of one brigade on the wooden crest, he was 
caught in flank, and hastily sought his cover behind 
the hill. 

This incessant and desperate attack of Sherman, 
which proved so triumphantly successful, was 
directed against the enemy's most northern and 
vital point, and was vigorously continued all day. 
Sherman not only threatened the right flank of the 
enemy, but also his rear and stores at Chicka- 
mauga. " At three P. M. column after column of 
the enemy was streaming towards me," writes 
Sherman; "gun after gun poured its concentric 
shot on us from every hill and spur that gave a 
view of any part of the ground." He waited long 
and anxiously for the centre to open its part of the 



150 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

contest, in the meanwhile holding stubbornly to 
his bloody ridge under murderous fire. Grant 
knowing the importance of this key-point, sent a 
division to Sherman's support, but it was sent back 
by him, with word that " he had all the force ne- 
cessary." "Discovering that the enemy," says 
Grant, "in his desperation to defeat or resist the 
progress, was weakening his centre on Missionary 
Ridge, determined me to order the advance at 
once." The order was given, and gallantly exe- 
cuted. The rebel forces against which Sherman 
was contending, to their dismay, now found Thomas 
on their left flank, and their centre broken in. 
They turned, but all too late, for the white line of 
Thomas' musketry swept up from ridge to ridge, 
and Bragg's army fell back, defeated, into the 
valleys of Georgia. 

The storming of Missionary Ridge is thus 
described by an eye witness : * 

"And still the Union troops passed on, scaling 
unwaveringly the sides of Missionary Ridge. The 
blood of their comrades renders their footsteps 
slippery; the toil of the ascent almost takes away 
their breath ; the rebel musketry and artillery mow 
down their thinned ranks — but still they press on ! 
Not once do they even seem to waver. The color 



* Correspondence of the Cincinnati Gazette. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 151 

bearers press ahead, and plant their flags far in 
advance of the troops ; and at last, oh, moment of 
supremest triumph, they reach the crest, and rush 
like an avalanche upon the astonished foe. Whole 
regiments throw down their arms and surrender, 
the rebel artillerists are bayoneted by their guns, 
and the cannons which had a moment before been 
thundering on the Union ranks are now turned 
about, pouring death and terror into the midst of 
the mass of miserable fugitives who are rushing 
down the eastern slope of the ridge." 

INCIDENTS CONNECTED WITH THE BATTLE OF MISSIONARY 
RIDGE. 

Our troops met one loyal welcome on the height. 
How the Tennesseean that gave it managed to get 
there nobody knows, but there he was, grasping a 
colonel's hand, and saying, while the tears ran 
down his face, " God be thanked ! I knew the 
Yankees would fight ! " 

A little German in Wood's division is pierced 
like the lid of a pepper-box, but he is neither dead 
nor wounded. " See here," he says, rushing up to 
a comrade, " a pullet hit te preach of mine gun, a 
pullet in mine pocket-book, a pullet in mine coat- 
tail — they shoots me tree, five time, and I gives 
them ; yet!"* 



* Mr. B. F. Taylor's correspondence to the Chicago Journal. 



152 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

"We glean the following from a private letter 
from an officer : 

" The charge of the army on Missionary Ridgo 
astounded Bragg. Breckinridge's head-quarters 
were on the ridge, in full view of our troops. A 
lady who lives there related the following : ' Before 
you all came up here, I asked General Bragg, 
' What are you going to do with me, general V 
He says to me, 'Lord! madam, the Yankees will 
never dare to come up here.' 'And,' she added, 
with a blubber, 'it was not fifteen minutes until 
you were all around here.' " 



CHAPTER VIL 

SHERMAN AND THE SIEGE OF KNOXVILLE, AND THE 
EXPEDITION THROUGH MISSISSIPPI. 

PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY AFTER THE BATTLE OF MIS- 
SIONARY RIDGE MARCH TO KNOXVILLE TO RELIEVE 

BURNSIDE RETURNS TO CHATTANOOGA AT MEM- 
PHIS— * LETTER OF SHERMAN EXPEDITION THROUGH 

MISSISSIPPI — INCIDENT. 

The greater part of the struggle was over, but 
other work yet remained to be done. The same 
night that witnessed our success found Sherman 
pursuing the flying columns of the enemy. Having 
sent out his skirmishers and finding that the enemy 
had given way, he sent a division after him to the 
depot, and at four o'clock A. M., followed with a 
part of Major-General Howard's Eleventh Corps. 

While at the depot, General Sherman, with 
other officers, assisted in putting out a portion of 
the fire around the railroad platform, as the rebels 
before leaving had set fire to the depot. As the 
column moved forward, they came upon wagons, 
guns, caissons, forage, stores, pontoons, and all the 
ruins of a defeated army, and an abandoned camp. 



154 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

They met with but little opposition until nearly 
dark on the 26th, when as they emerged out of 
some low swampy land, the enemy opened fire 
upon them with musketry and artillery from a low 
hill. A sharp fight ensued, lasting nearly an hour, 
when they drove the enemy from the field. Their 
killed and wounded were left in our hands. 

The next day all three armies passed on to Grays- 
ville, Thomas and Hooker sharing with Sherman 
the marching and fighting. Sherman in the mean- 
time detached Howard to move against the rail- 
road between Dalton and Cleveland and destroy 
it, which was soon done and the communication 
thereby cut between Bragg and Longstreet. He 
continued his march to Ringgold, where he found 
Grant. The enemy had been driven from Ten- 
nessee, and Sherman was now ordered to move 
leisurely back to Chattanooga. He destroyed the 
railroad on the next day from half-way between 
Graysville and Ringgold to the State line, and with 
General Grant's consent, instead of returning to 
Chattanooga, he sent back all his artillery, wagons, 
and impediments, and made a circuit by the north 
as far as Hiawassee, resulting in the destruction 
of more railroad and the capture of more stores. 

"This," says Sherman, "was to have been the 
limit of our journey. Officers and men had brought 
no baggage 01 provisions, and the weather was bitter 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 155 

cold." But Grant had received an urgent appeal 
from Genera] Burn side for relief, stating that his 
supplies could not last longer than the 3d of De- 
cember, and nothing but the utmost energy would 
save Knoxvi lie and its gallant commander. Grant 
had already ordered General Granger thither, but 
he had not as yet started, and the commanding 
general determined, notwithstanding the fact that 
two divisions of Sherman's forces had marched 
from Memphis and gone into battle immediately 
on their arrival at Chattanooga, to send him with 
his command. And General Sherman accordingly 
received command of all the troops designed for 
relieving Knoxville, including Granger's. 

" Seven days before," writes Sherman, "we had 
left our camps on the other side of the Tennessee, 
with two days rations, without a change of cloth- 
ing, stripped for the fight, with but a single blanket 
or coat per man, from myself to the private in- 
cluded. Of course, we then had no provisions, 
save what we gathered by the road, and were ill 
supplied for such a march. But we learned that 
twelve thousand of our fellow soldiers were be- 
leaguered in the mountain town of Knoxville, 
eighty-four miles distant, that they needed relief, 
and must have it in three days. This was enough ; 
and it had to be done." 



156 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Howard planked and repaired the railroad bridge 
that night, and at daybreak the army passed the 
Hiawassee and marched to Athens, fifteen miles. 
On the 2d of December the Union forces hurried 
towards London, twenty-six miles distant, the 
cavalry pushing ahead to save the pontoon-bridge 
across the Tennessee, held by Vaughn's brigade of 
the enemy. They moved with their usual rapidity, 
and succeeded in capturing every picket, but found 
Vaughn strongly posted in earth-works with artil- 
lery in position. They were obliged to wait till 
night, when Howard's infantry came up. The 
enemy retreated during the night, destroying the 
pontoons, running three locomotives and forty- 
eight cars into the Tennessee, and leaving for our 
army to capture a large quantity of provisions, 
four guns, and other property. 

But one day of the three alloted Sherman's 
forces to reach Knoxville remained, and the bridge 
was gone. Sherman therefore sent word the same 
night to Colonel Long, commanding the cavalry 
brigade, that Burnside must know before the next 
night of his approach — ordered him to select his 
best material, to start at once for Knoxville, ford 
the Little Tennessee, and ".at whatever cost of life 
or horse-flesh," to push into Knoxville. The road 
was the worst that could be imagined, and the 
distance to be traveled forty miles. They were 



AND HIS CAMPAIGN. 157 

on the road before dawn, and at daylight the Fif- 
teenth Corps was turned from Philadelphia to 
Morgantown, but even here they found the Little 
Tennessee too deep for fording. General Wil- 
son skillfully extemporized a bridge, — "working 
partly with crib-work and partly with square 
trestles made of the houses of the late town of 
Morgantown," and the bridge was ready and the 
troops passing by dark of December 4th. The 
welcome message came the next morning from 
Burnside, dated December 4th, that Long's cavalry 
had reached Knoxville on the night before, and all 
was well. The bridge had given away just before 
the reception of this news, causing delay, but it 
was soon mended, and the forced march continued, 
until the night of the 5th. Arriving at Marysville, 
a staff officer of General Burnside rode up and 
announced that Longstreet had raised the siege the 
night before. Sherman sent forward Granger's 
two divisions to Knoxville, and ordered the remain- 
der of his army to halt and rest; for their work 
was accomplished. 

From Marysville General Sherman rode to 
Knoxville, where he met General Burnside, and 
while there, received the following letter : 

Knoxville, December 7th, 1863. 
To Major-General Sherman : — 

I desire to express to you and your command my most hearty 
thanks and gratitude for your promptness in coming to our relief 

N 



158 MAJ*GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

during the siege of Knoxville, and am satisfied your approach 
served to raise the siege. 

A. E. Burnside, Major-General. 

Knoxville being saved, it seemed best for Slier- 
man's army, with the exception of Granger's two 
divisions, to support the suspended movement 
against Bragg, and they leisurely retraced their 
steps to Chattanooga. After an easy march of four 
days, we find them again at Chattanooga. The 
three months' campaign just ended was a most 
arduous one, Sherman's losses amounting to over 
two thousand men. In Sherman's official report, 
he states that the men under his command had 
marched for long periods, without regular rations 
or supplies of any kind, through mud and over 
rocks, sometimes barefooted, without a murmur. 
After a march of four hundred miles, without a 
moment's rest, and no sleep for three nights, they 
crossed the Tennessee River, fought their part in 
the battle of Chattanooga, pursued the enemy out 
of Tennessee, then turned and marched more than 
one hundred miles north, and compelled Longstreet 
to raise the siege of Knoxville, which had caused 
so much anxiety all over the country. 

Soon after, while at Memphis, on his way to 
Vicksburg, General Sherman was honored with a 
magnificent dinner, at which time he paid General 
Grant a high compliment for his coolness and 
bravery. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 159 

He arrived at Vicksburg shortly after, and while 
there wrote an able and lengthy letter on the 
proper treatment of disloyal people in conquered 
territory, some extracts from which we snbjoin : 

" The war which now prevails in our land is 
essentially a war of races. The Southern people 
entered into a clear compact of government, but 
still maintained a species of separate interests, 
history, and prejudices. These latter became 
stronger and stronger, till they have led to a war 
which has devolved fruits of the bitterest kind. 

" We of the North are, beyond all question, right 
in our lawful cause, but we are not bound to ignore 
the fact that the people of the South have preju- 
dices, which form a part of their nature, and which 
they cannot throw off without an effort of reason 
or the slower process of natural change. Now, 
the question arises, should we treat as absolute 
enemies all in the South who differ from us in 
opinion or prejudice — kill or banish them ? or 
should we give them time to think and gradually 
change their conduct, so as to conform to the new 
order of things which is slowly and gradually 
creeping into their country? 

"When men take arms to resist our rightful 
authority, we are compelled to use force, because all 
reason and argument cease when arms are resorted 
to. When the provisions, forage, horses, mules, 



1G0 

wagons, &c, are used by our enemy, it is clearly 
our duty and right to take them, because otherwise 
they might be used against ns. 

" In like manner, all houses left vacant by an 
inimical people are clearly our right, or such as are 
needed as storehouses, hospitals and quarters. But 
a question arises as to dwellings used by women, 
children and non-combatants. So long as non- 
combatants remain in their houses and keep to 
their accustomed business, their opinions and pre- 
judices can in no wise influence the war, and, 
therefore, should not be noticed. But if any one 
comes out into the public streets and creates dis- 
order, he or she should be punished, restrained, or 
banished, either to the rear or front, as the officer 
in command adjudges. If the people, or any of 
them, keep up a correspondence with parties in 
hostility, they are spies, and can be punished with 
death, or minor punishment. 

" These are well-established principles of war, 
and the people of the South, having appealed to 
war, are barred from appealing to our Constitution, 
which they have practically and publicly defied. 
They have appealed to war, and must abide its 
rules and laws. The United States, as a bellige- 
rent party claiming right in the soil as the ultimate 
sovereign, have a right to change the population, 
and it may be, and is, both politic and just we 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 161 

should do so in certain districts. When the inhabi- 
tants persist too long in hostility, it may be both 
politic and right we should banish them and appro- 
priate their lands to a more loyal and useful popu- 
lation. No man will deny that the United States 
would be benefitted by dispossessing a single pre- 
judiced, hard-headed and disloyal planter, and 
substituting in his place a dozen or more patient, 
industrious, good families, even if they be of 
foreign birth. I think it does good to present this 
view of the case to many Southern gentlemen, who 
grew rich and wealthy, not by virtue alone of their 
industry and skill, but by reason of the protection 
and impetus to prosperity given by our hitherto 
moderate and magnanimous Government. It is all 
idle nonsense for these Southern planters to say 
that they made the South, that they own it, and 
that they can do as they please — even to break up 
our Government and to shut up the natural avenues 
of trade, intercourse and commerce. 



" "Whilst I assert for our Government the highest 
military prerogatives, I am willing to bear in 
patience that political nonsense of slave rights, 
State rights, freedom of conscience, freedom of 
press, and such other trash, as have deluded the 
Southern people into war, anarchy, bloodshed, and 



162 MA J. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the foulest crimes that have disgraced any time or 
any people. 

"I would advise the commanding officers at 
Huntsville, and such other towns as are occupied 
by our troops, to assemble the inhabitants and ex- 
plain to them these plain, self-evident propositions, 
and tell them that it is for them now to say whether 
they and their children shall inherit the beautiful 
land which by the accident of nature has fallen to 
their share. The Government of the United States 
has in North Alabama any and all rights which 
they choose to enforce in war — to take their lives, 
their homes, their lands, their everything; because 
they cannot deny that war does exist there ; and 
war is simply power, unrestrained by Constitution 
or compact. If they want eternal war, well and 
good : we will accept the issue and dispossess them 
and put our friends in possession. I know thou- 
sands and millions of good people who, at simple 
notice, would come to IsTorth Alabama and accept 
the elegant houses and plantations now there. If 
the people of Huntsville think different, let them 
persist in war three years longer, and then they will 
not be consulted. Three years ago, b}^ a little 
reflection and patience, they could have a hundred 
years of peace and prosperity, but they preferred 
war. Very well. Last year they could have saved 
their slaves, but now it is too late : all the powers 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 163 

of earth cannot restore to them their slaves, any 
more than their dead grandfathers. Next year their 
lands will be taken — for in war we can take them, 
and rightfully too — and in another year they may 
beg in vain for their lives. A people who will per- 
severe in war beyond a certain limit, ought to know 
the consequences. Many, many people, with less 
pertinacity than the South, have been wiped out of 
national existence." 

Before leaving Memphis for Yicksburg, Sherman 
ordered General W. S. Smith, with eight thousand 
cavalry to start from Memphis on the 1st of Febru- 
ary, with instructions to move down to Meridian, 
destroy the enemy's railroads, and meet him at 
that point. They failed however to commence 
their movement at the proper time, and did not 
start until the 11th of February. 

General Sherman, with a force of about twenty 
thousand infantry and twelve hundred cavalry, and 
a wagon train carrying twenty days rations — 
pushed boldly from Yicksburg on the 3d of Febru- 
ary, holding no line of communication, but cutting 
himself loose from all, in a strict movable column. 
He anticipated some resistance and looked for 
fighting — but the rebels retreated before him, 
somewhat delaying him by skirmishing, destroying 
roads and bridges, and placing various impedi- 
ments in the way. 



164 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The line of Sherman's march was easterly, first 
crossing the Big Black River, and then to Cham- 
pion Hills, Clinton, and Jackson. McPherson's 
and Hurlbut's Corps, hitherto on different roads, 
met them at Jackson, and Sherman took command 
of the three divisions. The march was now con- 
tinned, and at Line Creek they met the enemy, in 
a slight encounter, and overcoming them, still 
pressed on, and with but little opposition arrived 
at Quitman which was captured, and soon after the 
village of Enterprise shared the same fate. The 
rebels seemed paralyzed by the boldness and rapi- 
dity of his movements, and could offer no serious 
resistance to his march through the country. Sher- 
man's column arrived at the Big Clumkey River 
on the 13th of February, and after crossing pushed 
forward to Meridian. He had now traversed the 
State of Mississippi from Vicksburg, which was at 
the extreme west of the State, to Meridian, which 
was at the east. He had traveled about one 
hundred miles, penetrated the very centre of the 
Confederacy, and the centre also of the negro, 
corn, and cotton region. He had captured an im- 
mense amount of stores, and had destroyed thou- 
sands of dollars worth of property belonging to 
the rebel Government, including railroads and 
mills. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 165 

General Sherman now halted Jris army, and 
waited for General Smith's cavalry column, which 
should have left Memphis on February 1st. He 
had met the rebels on his way, and was driven back 
defeated and disgraced. Sherman needed Smith's 
eight thousand cavalry to prosecute his onward 
movement, and without them he did not care to 
proceed further. After waiting a short time, de- 
stroying all within his reach, he returned to 
Vicksburg by the same route he had pursued in 
his advance. In all probability, had Smith joined 
him at the proper time, Sherman would have 
pushed through Alabama, and either struck at 
Mobile or Montgomery ; but the failure of the 
cavalry to join him changed his plans entirely; but 
he damaged the enemy in many ways and to a 
great extent. 

INCIDENT. 

After the troops returned to Chattanooga, one 
of Sherman's men was challenged by a sentinel, 
and replied that he "belonged to the Fifteenth 
Corps." 

" Where's your badge ?" inquired the sentinel. 

" What badge ?" asked the man. 

" The badge of your corps. We wear a crescent 
to designate us." The querist belonged to the 
Eleventh Corps. 



166 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

"Badge?" be quickly replied. "Forty rounds 
of ammunition in our cartridge boxes ; sixty rounds 
in our pockets; a march from Chattanooga; a 
battle and pursuit ; another march to Knoxville ; 
and victory everywhere. That is badge enough 
for us." 

It is needless to add that he passed the sentinel 
without further questions. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

SHERMAN'S GREAT CAMPAIGN FROM CHATTANOOGA TO 
ATLANTA. 

SHERMAN APPOINTED THE SUCCESSOR OP GRANT — TOUR 
OP INSPECTION AND PLAN OF THE CAMPAIGN COM- 
MENCEMENT OF THE CAMPAIGN STRENGTH OF THE 

ARMY — THE STRENGTH OF THE ENEMY — POSITION OF 
OUR FORCES ON THE SIXTH OF MAY — THE ENEMY 
FLANKED OUT OF THEIR POSITION AT DALTON — THE 
BATTLE OF RESACA THE RESULT INCIDENTS. 

After General Grant had been commissioned 
lientenant-general and commander-in-chief of the 
Armies of the United States, General Sherman was 
appointed his successor of the Grand Division of 
the Mississippi. This appointment was made on 
the 12th day of March, A. D. 1864 ; but Sherman 
did not receive notice of it until the 14th, two days 
afterwards. The States of Kentucky, Tennessee, 
Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia, and all the 
troops in these several States, were included in this 
military division. 

As soon as Sherman had made some very impor- 
tant improvements in the means of transportation, 
and felt perfectly secure in regard to a sufficiency 



168 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

of supplies, lie immediately set out on a tour of 
inspection. He visited Athens, Decatur, Hunts- 
ville, Chattanooga, Knoxville, and other military 
points of his new command. In this preliminary 
tour of observation, he had interviews with Major 
General McPherson, commander of the Army of 
the Tennessee, at Huntsville ; with Major General 
Thomas, commanding the Army of the Cumber- 
land, at Chattanooga; and with Major General 
Schofield, commanding the Army of the Ohio, at 
Knoxville. In the interviews which Sherman had 
with the lieutenant-general, and the various subor- 
dinate army commanders, a general programme of 
the campaign was arranged. 

On the 27th of April, all the troops organized 
under Sherman's command moved towards Chat- 
tanooga, and on that day he was there in person. 

On the 1st of May, the effective strength of the 
several armies combined for offensive purposes was 
about as follows : The Army of the Cumberland, 
under command of Major General Thomas, con- 
tained an infantry force of 54,568 men ; artillery, 
2,337 men; cavalry, 3,828; total, 60,733, and 130 
guns. The Army of the Tennessee, under com- 
mand of Major General McPherson, contained 
22,437 infantry, 1,404 artillery, and 624 cavalry; 
total, 24,465, and 96 guns. The Army of the 
Ohio, under command of Major General Schofield, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 169 

contained 11,183 infantry, 679 artillery, and 1,679 
cavalry; total, 13,541, and 28 guns. The grand 
aggregate number of troops was 98,739, and 254 
guns. 

We learn, from General Sherman's report, that 
these numbers were maintained during the cam- 
paign. The men constantly returning to the army, 
whose furloughs had expired, together with those 
from various hospitals, about compensated for the 
loss in battle and from sickness. 

Sherman estimated the enemy, General John- 
ston's force, under Generals Hardee, Hood and 
Polk, at about 50,000 troops. General Hood has 
since reported the number 70,000. 

On the morning of the 6th of May, the forces 
under Sherman were placed as follows : The Army 
of the Cumberland was at and near Ringgold; 
that of the Tennessee at Gordon's Mills, on the 
Chickamauga ; and that of the Ohio near Red Clay, 
on the Georgia line, north of Dalton. 

At this time the enemy occupied a strong posi- 
tion at Dalton, on the railroad, about forty miles 
south of Chattanooga, which could not be success- 
fully assaulted in front, as it was covered by an 
inaccessible ridge, between which and Dalton is 
the famous pass of Buzzard Roost, well obstructed 
by abattis and flooded by the water from Mill Creek. 
Sherman resolved to compel the evacuation of that 



170 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

place by flank movements. In this he was perfectly 
successful, and compelled the enemy to evacuate 
Dalton, and fall back to Resaca, a place on the 
railroad, about fifteen miles south of Dalton. 

THE BATTLE OE RESACA. 

This battle was fought on Saturday and Sunday, 
May the 14th and 15th. Previous to this time 
there had been several sharp fights and some severe 
skirmishing. On the 9th, as the right wing of our 
army was passing through Snake Creek Gap, it had 
a sharp encounter with the enemy, while the left 
and centre of the army were engaged in skirmish- 
ing. Slight skirmishing took place on the 11th, 
and on the 13th General Kilpatrick was wounded 
in the foot, while making a cavalry reconnoissance 
before Resaca. But on the 14th and 15th of the 
month our army had the first battle of the cam- 
paign. Although the result was not every thing 
that was hoped for, yet General Sherman and the 
country may well be proud of it. 

The following account of this battle, given in the 
language of an eye witness, will be read with great 
interest : 

Resaca, Georgia, May 14th, 1864. 
Our line as formed last night, was in the form of 
a semi-circle, to the north-west of Sugar Valley, 
while the Ostanaula River completes the circle on 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 171 

the south-east. Sugar Valley is a fertile little plain 
of about ten square miles in size, much broken by 
hills, which at this season of the year are covered 
by a dense undergrowth of small trees and vines, 
rendering them very difficult to penetrate. It was 
in this valley, between the projected Eome and 
Dalton Railroad and the river that encircles Resaca 
and Tilton, that the enemy made a stand after being 
closely pressed on his retreat from Dalton. From 
our centre to the river, the distance this morning 
was about seven miles. Our line extended com- 
pletely around the valley, McPherson's right rest- 
ing on the river near the junction with Oothkalaga 
Creek or Calhoun, while the left strikes the river 
north of Tilton near the junction of the river with 
Swamp Creek that takes its rise in the hill of Su- 
gar Valley. Lick and Camp Creeks also burst out 
from the hills in the valley, and empty their waters 
in the Ostanaula River, which is very broad and 
deep, but can be forded when the water is low, at 
six points. The above is as intelligible a description 
as can be given without the aid of a map ; and 
now 

THE OPENING OP THE BATTLE. 

As I have already said, our lines were formed in 
a half circle extending from the river on the left 
to a point on the river near Calhoun. The corps 



172 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

occupied positions in the line as follows, extending 
from right to left : first, MePherson ; second, 
Hooker ; third, Palmer ; fourth, Schofield ; fifth, 
Howard. 

Skirmishing commenced early in the morning, 
and many prisoners were brought in as the result, 
although the attack made by us was but faintly 
responded to. Skirmishing continued, with occa- 
sional truces, lasting from ten to thirty minutes, all 
the morning. Meantime our general officers were 
not idle. Generals Sherman and Thomas with, 
their indefatigable corps commanders, rode along 
the line with their staffs, personally superintend- 
ing the parking of ambulances and ammunition 
trains, and assigning batteries to positions where 
they could be of the most service in the event of 
a general engagement. 

CHANGE IN THE LINE. 

At nine o'clock, General Schofield was ordered 
to withdraw his corps from the part of the line 
between Palmer and Hooker, and take a new posi- 
tion on the left of Newton's division of the Fourth. 
Corps. Palmer closed up the gap between his left 
and Newton, and Judah's and Cox's division of 
Schofield' s Corps came up in the place assigned to 
them. Hovey's brigade of the Second Corps was 
left in reserve and did not participate in the battle 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 173 

of to-day. By some mistake in the giving or re- 
ception of the order, General Cox's division failed 
to get up in time, and Judah and the force on his 
right advanced upon the enemy, thus leaving a gap 
of half a mile between Judah's left and Stabley's 
right, which was promptly filled by cavalry. Con- 
siderable confusion followed the announcement of 
the existence of this gap, and staff officers in vain 
rode for hours in search of Cox's division through 
the thick underbrush in which our line was formed. 
It was lost : and staff officers reported that Gen- 
eral Schofield could obtain no intelligence from it. 

judah's attack and repulse. 

General Judah just before noon received an order 
from General Schofield to open the attack, and 
though his left flank was liable at any moment to 
be turned, he informed General Schofield of the 
fact, and at once moved forward upon the enemy's 
skirmishers. The boys moved rapidly through the 
vines and shrubbery, through the valley, drove the 
enemy before them, and with a cheer crossed the 
deep gorge near which the enemy had thrown up 
strong breastworks commanding the valley. The 
enemy opened a destructive fire from their artil- 
lery, which the brave division stood for some time, 
vainly striving by superhuman efforts to carry the 
breastworks. It was repulsed after a gallant effort, 



174 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

and retired into the valley in disorder. We had 
not yet got up on the left, and no artillery support 
was at hand. Nevertheless General Judah resolved 
not to retire without one more effort. Collecting 
together the fragments of his broken but not dis- 
couraged regiments, a new line was hastily formed 
and the whole division were just in the act of ad- 
vancing in a charge which all felt would have put 
it in possession of the enemy's line of works when 
the division was 

RELIEVED BY GENERAL NEWTON'S DIVISION 

of the Eleventh Corps. In the meantime the gap 
in the line was filled, Cox took his position, and for 
an hour the incessant roll of the musketry, as vol- 
ley after volley was poured into the ranks of the 
enemy, and as vigorously returned, told that the 
conflict was a desperate one. Artillery fire was 
delivered into the enemy's ranks rapidly and with 
excellent effect. Their artillery did not much in- 
jury, as Palmer had silenced eight guns with his 
regiments, who under cover acted as sharpshooters 
and picked off the cannoniers as often as they ad- 
vanced to work their pieces. ISTo better evidence 
can be given of the desperate nature of the con- 
flict, than the loss in McLean's brigade, which went 
into the fight with 1,388 men, and lost 595 in the 
short time it was engaged. General Newton's 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 175 

division pressed the enemy strongly, and inflicted 
serious injury upon him. About two o'clock the 
firing in the centre in front of Newton subsided 
into a slight skirmish fire. 

GENERAL CON'S DIVISION. 

The division of General Cox, which finally turned 
up on Judah's left, fought with great pluck and 
obstinacy, driving the skirmishers back upon their 
main line and the line into their breastworks, from 
which they poured into the ranks incessant fire of 
shell and ball. Across valleys, up hills, through 
gorges and ravines they were driven, until they 
gained their first line of rifle pits. Cox soon dis- 
lodged them and sent them back howling to their 
more formidable breast-works. At this moment 
Cox found that he was out of ammunition, and 
by the stupid blunder on the part of somebody, 
the trains were too far in the rear from which to 
replenish his cartridge boxes. Yet he was deter- 
mined not to be foiled, and gathering together all 
his strength, he advanced his line. A cheer went 
up from his boys and resounded through the hills 
as his serried line advanced upon the enemy's 
works, which they carried at the point of the 
bayonet in splendid style ; but not without the loss 
of many brave men. 



176 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

WHAT PALMER'S FOURTEENTH CORPS ACCOMPLISHED. 

The heaviest fighting of the day was on the 
centre. Palmer's corps, on the right of Newton's 
division, had heavy skirmishing along the whole 
line, lasting from half-past twelve nntil one o'clock, 
when Carlin's brigade, of Johnston's division, ad- 
vanced down a slope of a hill, and drove the enemy 
into their breastworks on the south side of a hill 
rising out of the valley on the south. An assault 
on the breastworks was not ordered. The brigade 
at once sought cover in a ditch formed by a dried 
up stream, and until night covered them, acted as 
sharp-shooters, and did good execution in silencing 
batteries engaged in enfilading Judah and Newton. 
Mitchell's brigade, of Davis' division, got into a 
similar position, and picked off every rebel whose 
head protruded above the breastworks. 

Turchin's brigade, of Baird's division, joined 
Judah on the left of Palmer's corps, and fought 
desperately, but were compelled to fall back with 
Judah's division. The loss in the corps, outside 
of Turchin's brigade, was light. 

wood's division, fourth corps. 

The Fourth Corps, under command of Major 
General Howard, the "one-armed veteran," as he 
is styled in the corps, played a very conspicuous 
part in the tragedy of war enacted to-day. All 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 177 

the corps, with the exception of Beatty's fighting 
brigade, for which room could not he found, as the 
circle was gradually compressed as we advanced, 
was engaged, and covered itself with imperishable 
glory. Wood's division was ordered into position 
on the right of General Stanley just before noon, 
and was soon hotly engaged with Hazen's and 
Willich's brigades, driving the enemy. For some 
time a destructive infantry and artiHery fire was 
kept up, and ere long his main line advanced in 
overwhelming strength upon the enemy, who fled, 
at his approach, to his rifle-pits, from which the 
energetic Wood soon dislodged him, and compelled 
him to seek shelter under cover of their breast- 
works, but nothing in comparison with those in 
the Twenty-third Corps, which, to-day, bore the 
brunt of the battle. 

After three o'clock the resistance offered by the 
enemy on the centre, through which he had vainly 
striven to force a passage, grew more lax, and very 
little firing other than skirmishing was heard. 

THE ENEMY MASSING ON OUR LEFT. 

Foiled at every point in his efforts to break our 
walls of iron that environed him, Johnston, early 
in the afternoon, commenced massing heavily on 
our left, where Stanley, with as brave a division as 
ever marched to the music of the Union, had been 



178 

skirmishing and awaiting the developments of the 
enemy's attempt to break the centre. Generals 
Sherman and Thomas were not slow to detect the 
enemy's design, and 

PREPARATIONS TO RESIST IT 

were at once commenced. Joe Hooker's gallant 
Potomac veterans were selected at once, and imme- 
diately retired from the line and commenced mov- 
ing to the left of Stanley, whose flank was covered 
by McCook's cavalry, in front of which Johnston 
was massing his columns for the desperate effort. 
Hooker arrived none too soon. 

A MOMENT OF THRILLING INTEREST. 

At seven o'clock, when quiet reigned along the 
whole line, with an occasional interruption from a 
sharp-shooter's rifle, the expected attack came. 
Down upon Stanley's exposed flank came the 
enemy in overwhelming numbers. For a few 
minutes the line nobly resisted the terrific attack; 
but as it was renewed with ten-fold fury by the 
enemy, who fought with a desperation equal to 
anything ever performed by our own soldiery, the 
line wavered, and the regiments on the left were 
giving back in confusion and disorder, when, above 
the roar of the artillery and musketry that seemed 
to make the old hills tremble and quake, a cheer 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 179 

was heard, and into the deadly breach, over the 
dead bodies of the fallen, came on the double- 
quick, Robinson's brigade, who advanced to the 
assault with desperate determination to drive back 
the solid columns of the enemy, and save the army 
from disaster. Nobly they met the enemy, and 
when the shock came, reeling like drunken men, 
the line of the enemy was broken and sent back, 
smarting under the shock. The contest was of 
short duration, but, while it lasted, the roar of ar- 
tillery and the roll of musketry told that this was \ 
one of the most critical moments of the day — a 
period when the heart of the listener seemed to 
stand still in suspense. The Fourth Corps will 
never forget Hooker and the noble brigade which, 
at a moment when the fate of the army, and per- 
haps of the nation, hung upon a slender thread, 
which the enemy would have severed, came up and 
turned the tide of battle. A nation's thanks are 
due Joe Hooker, and may it never forget Robin- 
son's brigade, whose gallantry to-night is on every 
tongue. 

Sunday, May 15th. 
During last night quiet reigned along the whole 
line, the enemy being very quiet, and rarely firing 
a shot. The falling of trees and the sound of ax- 
men, however, convinced our commanders that the 
rebels were erecting stronger fortifications upon 



180 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the innumerable hills that rise ont of the valley. 
At half-past seven in the morning onr skirmishers 
opened fire upon the rebel line, which was as vig- 
orously returned on the left and left-centre. The 
enemy, however, did not seem disposed to attack 
with their main line, after the fearful slaughter and 
repulse that Hooker administered to them last 
night. It was not until nine or ten o'clock in the 
morning that the Twentieth Corps arrived from the 
right, and got into position on Stanley's left. The 
Twenty-third Corps was immediately withdrawn 
from the right of the line and thrown in on the left. 
As our line was nearly fourteen miles long, these 
necessary changes occupied nearly the entire morn- 
ing, so that mid-day arrived ere we were ready to 
make the 

ASSAULT ON THE ENEMY'S WORKS. 

Hooker threw forward Butterfield's division 
against the enemy's strongest position, supported 
by Williams' and Geary's divisions, and the battle 
opened vigorously on both sides. Hooker fought 
for three or four hours, and made steady headway, 
carrying line after line of rifle-pits, until Butter- 
field's division encountered a lunette of formidable 
size. Several attempts were made to carry it, and 
capture its four guns, which were pouring a de- 
structive fire into our lines, but the attempt was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 181 

futile. The troops fought with great desperation, 
out as often as they advanced upon the lunette the 
terrific volleys of musketry from the enemy in the 
fortification hurled them back in confusion. At 
last Butterfield charged forward and took a posi- 
tion under the protecting works of the fort, so 
close to the guns within that they could be touched 
with the men's hands. In the effort to gain this 
unexposed position, the contest was a bloody one, 
Geary's division supporting Butterfield. Wood's 
brigade, which was participating in the first battle, 
fought with marked determination, and contributed 
much to secure the position. 

HOOKER CARRIES THE LUNETTE BY STRATEGY. 

After vain efforts to capture the lunette from 
which the enemy poured into our ranks grape, 
canister and shrapnel, Hooker's forces gave up 
the unequal contest, and during the balance 
of the day lay under the breastworks, protected 
from the enemy's fire, and picking off every 
rebel who showed himself above the works. 
Darkness found him in this position, and he at 
once matured plans for capturing the works by 
strategy, under cover of darkness. The pioneers 
were brought up ; the ends dug out of the works, 
and the guns drawn out by the aid of ropes, under 
a destructive fire from the occupants of the works, 
P 



182 

who were driven out or captured, as our troops 
swarmed in through the opening in overwhelming 
numbers. The guns were four twelve pound brass 
pieces; and a number of battle flags, including 
those of the Thirty-eighth and Thirty-fifth Ala- 
bama, were captured, with over 200 prisoners. 
Prisoners report General "Walthall (rebel) killed, 
and General Tucker wounded. 

THE LOSSES IN HOOKER'S CORPS 

were very heavy, especially in the repeated charges 
upon the enemy's works. Butterfield lost about 
500 ; Geary 100, and Williams' division about 150, 
making Hooker's loss about 750 in the battle of 
the afternoon. The Twenty-third Corps, which was 
moved around from the right, as a support for 
Hooker, lost slightly. 

GLORIOUS VICTORY BY HOVEY'S INDIANA DIVISION. 

About two o'clock the enemy, learning from 
prisoners taken from us, that Hovey's Indiana divi- 
sion of "raw recruits" held a position in the line, 
and smarting under their successive repulses on 
other portions of the line, hurled a heavy force 
upon Hovey, convinced that the recruits would 
run. Not so, however. The rebels held a stronger 
position in a gorge of the hills, and out of their 
breastworks they swarmed in large numbers and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 183 

made a furious attack upon the division, which 
nobly repulsed them after a short and bloody con- 
test of fifteen minutes. The assault was renewed, 
when the " raw Iloosiers " charged upon them on 
the double-quick, under a heavy fire of grape, and 
literally mowed them down. They did not assault 
the Indianians the third time. To-night the en- 
comiums of the whole corps are being showered 
upon Hovey's division, who have written a glorious 
introductory chapter in their history. 

A DESPERATE NIGHT BATTLE. 

About ten P. M. Hooker's command commenced 
throwing up breastworks to strengthen their posi- 
tion, and to cover their movements, it was found 
necessary to advance their skirmish line. In doing 
so the skirmishers ran against the rebel line. Im- 
mediately after a heavy artillery and musketry fire 
opened from both contestants, which lasted until 
two o'clock in the morning. The night battle was 
desperate and losses on both sides heavy, probably 
three hundred killed and wounded. At two the 
rebels were repulsed along the whole line ; a 
deafening cheer rang out on the night air, and 
all was still save the piteous moans of the dying, 
who lay upon the bloody field, awaiting with 
anxiety the earlv dawn, when they were gathered 



184 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

into the hospitals and every care bestowed upon 
them by our hard working surgeons. 

Monday, May 16th. 
The morning was very bright and the whole val- 
ley was filled with smoke and fog. At daylight 
not a gun was heard. Newton immediately ad- 
vanced to feel the enemy, and discovered that they 
had disappeared. 

THE RETREAT ACROSS THE OSTANAULA. 

Immediately upon being informed of the evacu- 
ation of the valley, General Howard informed 
General Sherman, and our lines advanced. It was 
discovered that the enemy had made good his re- 
treat, carrying off all his artillery, but destroying 
his wagon trains by fire lest they should fall into 
our hands. I have just made a tour of the field 
on the left, and find it covered with rebel dead and 
wounded, all of whom were left in our hands for 
burial and treatment. Prisoners at the hour I 
write, 9 A. M., are being brought in by hundreds. 
The victory is complete so far, but would have 
been more so had 



been able to cross the river and take a position in 
the rebel rear. McPherson made several attempts 
to throw down the pontoons and cross his corps, 



AND HIS CAMFAIGNS. 185 

but the enemy poured such a raking fire into his 
' pontoons that the work had to he abandoned. I 
have no particulars of what was accomplished by 
McPherson's command, but I learn that the Fif- 
teenth Corps under Logan lost 48 killed and 448 
wounded. 

OUR TOTAL LOSSES 

are estimated at from 4,000 to 5,000, of whom fully 
2,000 are so slightly wounded in the hands and 
feet that they will be fit for duty in two or three 
weeks. The killed will amount to about 800, 
among whom are many brave officers, who have 
left behind them brilliant records. 

THE PRISONERS IN OUR HANDS. 

We have taken nearly four thousand prisoners 
and deserters, including many colonels, lieu- 
tenant-colonels, majors, and line and staff officers. 
Many of them were williug prisoners, who re- 
mained in the rebel works and surrendered when 
we advanced in pursuit. 

THE PURSUIT OF JOHNSTON. 

On the evacuation of the valley, the enemy 
crossed all his cars and locomotives and burned five 
spans of the railway bridge, which can be repaired 
however, in one or two days. At nine this (Monday) 



186 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

morning, Hooker's corps threw down pontoons 
and crossed near R-esaca, while Schofield is cross- 
ing on the left near Pelton. The cavalry under 
Stoneman and McCook, commenced the pursuit 
early in the morning, and at the present writing 
they are engaging the enemy with artillery. Brisk 
firing can be heard, and the rebel rear guard are 
evidently meeting with a warm parting salute from 
our cavalry, which this season is in excellent trim, 
and superior to that of former seasons. McCook, 
Stoneman, and Kilpatrick are clashing officers, who 
never refuse a fight, and invariably whip their an- 
tagonists, when the forces engaged are at all equal. 

The following partial account of the battle of 
Resaca will give to the reader some interesting 
particulars not mentioned so fully in the statement 
already made : 

" While the fight was progressing on Saturday 
and Sunday at Sugar Creek, McPherson was en- 
gaged in shelling Resaca, to interrupt the passage 
of the rebel army, which, late in the day, was ob- 
served to be moving in long and unbroken trains. 
The houses, stores, depot buildings and telegraph 
office were riddled by the exploding shells and 
round shot, and the place rendered very uncomfort- 
able. The inhabitants, like most of the people 
from Dalton and Tilton, took the train with their 
household effects, provisions, &c, and went South. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 187 

The few who remained stated that a massacre and 
"destruction of the place was expected, from the 
statement of the rebel officers and men. The order 
for the army to fall back was captured from a rebel 
courier on his way from Johnston's head-quarters, 
and the whole programme thus revealed to us. 

" On the 14th heavy fighting began on the left, 
where the rebel corps of Hood and Polk pressed 
hotly upon the lines of Generals Howard and Scho- 
field. Late in the afternoon Hooker's Twentieth 
Corps began shifting its position towards the left 
in support of that wing of the army. General Wil- 
liams' division took the lead in this movement, and 
by six P. M. reached the main road leading from 
Dalton to Resaca. Here a portion of Stanley's 
division, of the Fourth Corps, was being heavily 
engaged, and was evidently on the point of being 
repulsed. General "Williams immediately formed 
his command in line of battle along a series of 
heights running in a direction perpendicular to the 
lines of General Stanley. The troops were con- 
cealed by the dense timber, and were so posted as 
to overlook the narrow, open valley along which 
the enemy, with defiant yells, hotly pursued Stan- 
ley's routed regiments. The Fifth Indiana battery, 
which had been put in position in an open field 
opposite Colonel Robinson's brigade, on the left of 
General Williams' line, presented a tempting prize, 



188 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

apparently within easy grasp of the enemy. On 
he came, making directly for the battery, the feeble 
supports of which immediately gave way. The 
batterymen stood manfully by their guns, though 
the loss of them seemed inevitable. The deep- 
throated cannon vomited a terrific fire upon the 
advancing foe, but without checking him. The 
enemy had approached within one hundred yards 
of the battery when General Williams ordered 
Colonel Robinson to throw his brigade forward into 
the valley, and to assault and take the heights 
beyond it, which had now fallen into rebel posses- 
sion. With tremendous cheers the Third brigade 
sprang from its covert in the woods, and swinging 
upon the right flank as a pivot, came up in rear of 
the battery, and opened a sweeping fire upon the 
enemy. Colonel Robinson ordered the One Hun- 
dred and First Illinois, which was upon the left of 
his line, to move immediately upon the wooded hill 
upon the left of the battery, which it did with almost 
as much precision and regularity of movement as 
might have been expected upon a review. It was 
a sublime movement throughout, and challenged 
the admiration of General Hooker, who declared 
that the regiments moved as if on parade. The 
enemy, completely disconcerted, retired in disorder 
to his intrenchments in the depths of the tangled 
forest. Darkness had now fallen, and though many 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 189 

prisoners were taken, it was extremely hazardous to 
pursue the enemy. 

" On the 15th it was resolved, to assault and, if 
possible, carry the fortified heights covering the 
right of the enemy's line. In this undertaking, the 
Fourth, Twentieth and Twenty-third Corps were to 
cooperate. The principal portion of the work, as 
the sequel proves, was reserved for General Hook- 
er's command. At noon Butterfield's division 
began firing into the dense, tangled forest which 
covered and masked the enemy's position. General 
Geary's followed, then General Williams' in reserve. 
Butterfield's men pressed forward vigorously to the 
assault, though retarded by the thick, tangled char- 
acter of the woods. The Second and Third divi- 
sions swept bravely on up the slope, and, spite of 
obstinate resistance and fearful losses, carried the 
enemy's first line. The assault of the second was 
at once attempted, but it was too strongly fortified 
and stoutly defended to be carried. The first line, 
however, was held firmly, in spite of all the enemy's 
desperate efforts to dislodge our troops. 

" General Williams' division was now ordered 
to advance and take its position on the left of 
General Butterfield. The division at once moved 
forward in line of battle, and, without serious 
opposition, arrived at the prescribed point within 
half an hour. The troops remained quietly in 



190 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

their position until four o'clock P. M., when the 
enemy, seeing himself completely hemmed in, with 
the Ostanaula River in his rear, and his last line 
of works, covering Resaca, almost within our grasp, 
resolved to dislodge General Williams, and, if pos- 
sible, turn the left flank of our army. Upon this 
scheme rested Johnston's forlorn hope, since a 
portion of McPherson's command had already 
succeeded in crossing the Ostanaula at Calhoun 
Ferry, and again threatened the rear of the rebel 
army. To Hood's rebel corps was assigned the 
desperate undertaking just mentioned. Massing 
Stuart's division four lines deep along our front, 
and supporting it with strong reserves, the rebel 
general pushed his columns forward to the assault. 
Colonel Robinson's brigade being upon the extreme 
left of the line, and having a wide, open field in its 
front, received the first onset of the enemy. As 
soon as the rebels emerged from the woods, the 
brave men of the First, Second and Third brigades 
opened a tremendous fire upon their advancing 
masses. The enemy checked, but not daunted, 
pressed steadily on, apparently determined to carry 
the position at every hazard. Colonel Robinson's 
brave men, with sweaty, powder-blackened faces, 
but unflinching hearts, redoubled their exertions, 
and poured upon the enemy a leaden storm, such 
as it seemed impossible to withstand. The enemy 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 191 

returned the fire with great energy, but at length 
hesitated, staggered and fell back. Then went up 
along the lines such pealing, heart-stirring cheers 
as only soldiers can give in the flush of victory. 
But the storm was not yet over. The enemy rallied 
again behind his woody covert, and once more ad- 
vanced to the assault. Though he received a like 
greeting as before, his lines swept impetuously on, 
apparently goaded by a resolution stronger than 
death. The field became strewed with his wounded 
and dead, and his advancing lines grew thinner and 
thinner. There was no quailing in the Union ranks. 
Standing firm in their places, the brave defenders 
of human liberty seemed resolved not to yield. 
The enemy came on within fifty yards of their 
lines before he became convinced of the impossi- 
bility of driving General Williams' heroes from 
their positions. Then he turned and fled, leaving 
his killed and wounded, one battle-flag and hun- 
dreds of small arms lying upon the field. A num- 
ber of the enemy who found it almost certain death 
to retreat in the face of our fire, surrendered as 
prisoners of war. 

"Night now drew her sable curtain over the scene 
of carnage, as if to vail its horrors from the sight 
of men and angels. The fighting entirely ceased, 
and the stillness was broken only by the melancholy 
voice of the whip-poor-will, and by the piercing 



192 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

cries of the rebel wounded, who lay uncared for 
between the hostile lines. The brave men who had 
fought so well could not listen to these sounds 
of distress indifferently. They sallied forth, even 
far beyond the picket lines, and brought in and 
tenderly cared for the poor victims of a fiendish 
rebellion." 

INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE OF RESACA. . 

After storming a portion of the rebel works, by 
Butterfield's division, on the 15th, as heretofore 
described, and while our men were crouching 
about the fort, and protecting the captured guns, 
a man from the Seventieth Indiana regiment sud- 
denly exposed himself to that close and terrible 
source of destruction, the rebel's line of masked 
breastworks, "Shoot!" aud with an oath repeated 
"shoot!" The defiance was answered, and he fell 
dead with an oath on his lips and a bullet in his 
heart, and thus passed into eternity. 

A Confederate soldier, who had been captured 
during the battle, and brought into the presence 
of General Sherman, without knowing that he was 
standing before Sherman, said : " The Confederates 
had a great horror of old Sherman's flank move- 
ments, that they could not find a position that he 
could not flank them out of it ; they believed that 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 193 

he could outflank the devil, and that he must have 
come into the world by a flank movement." 

General Dan. Sickles was present during the 
battle of the 14th and 15th, on a special mission to 
which he had been assigned by the President. He 
was in the saddle both days from morning till 
night, and was everywhere conspicuous where the 
fighting was the hardest. General Hooker, seeing 
how recklessly he exposed himself, said to him : 
"Dan, you must go back; we want to save that 
other leg of yours." Sickles did not take the ad- 
vice, but remained on the field. As he rode along 
our lines, he was frequently applauded and cheered 
by our troops. " Who's that ?" one would ask. 
Another would reply, " That is Dan Sickles, the 
man who saved the army at Chancellorsville." 
Sickles' staff volunteered their services, and were 
actively employed on Hooker's and Butterfield's 
staffs during the battle. 
Q 



CHAPTER IX. 

SHERMAN'S GREAT CAMPAIGN FROM CHATTANOOGA TO 
ATLANTA. 

THE PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY THEIR WOUNDED ORDER 

OF THE PURSUIT AN AMBUSCADE FIGHTING AND 

SKIRMISHING AN ACCOUNT BY AN EYE-WITNESS — • 

CAPTURE OF ROME, KINGSTON AND CASSVILLE 

GUERRILLA OPERATIONS MOVEMENT ACROSS THE 

ETOWAH SKIRMISHING LOSS OF WAGONS THE 

GALLANT ACTION OF THE TWENTY-FIFTH INST. AN- 
OTHER AMBUSCADE SHERMAN'S OBJECT A FURIOUS 

ASSAULT OCCUPATION OF DALLAS THE SITUATION 

ON JUNE FIRST SHERMAN'S STRATEGY — THE ENEMY 

ABANDONED THEIR WORKS SHERMAN'S DISPATCH — ■ 

WHAT THE ARMY HAD ACCOMPLISHED — CHARACTER 
OF SHERMAN INCIDENTS. 

On Monday, the day after the battle of Resaca, 
the army was in pursuit of the enemy. Our forces 
moved in three grand columns, sweeping the 
country for twenty miles. The wounded and dead 
of the enemy were scattered along the road and 
in the edges of the woods, where temporary hospi- 
tals had been established. They were taken to 
our hospitals, in the rear, where our surgeons did 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 195 

all they could to relieve their sufferings. The in- 
humanity of the men who have lifted their rebel- 
lious hands against the Government and the civili- 
zation of the age, to the dupes of their folly, is not 
to be envied, and will make a dark chapter in 
history. The kindness of our Government to the 
unfortunate and suffering, although not what it 
should have been in very many instances, will 
afford a most striking contrast. 

As above stated, the army was in motion by noon 
of Monday. The general order of the march was 
as it had been previous to the affair at Resaca : the 
Army of the Tennessee was on the right; the 
Army of the Cumberland in the centre, and the 
Army of the Ohio on the left; of course we mean 
so much of the army as was then engaged in the 
pursuit. There are three good roads, in addition 
to the railroad, leading south from Resaca to the 
Etowah River. Several other roads cross there, by 
means of which, at several points between Resaca 
and the Etowah, the armies could be concentrated. 
The roads that run in a southern direction, and along 
which our forces moved, wind through valleys and 
are separated from each other by ranges of moun- 
tains. The difficulty of a rapid pursuit was great; 
the enemy had great advantages in the retreat. 
"When about three miles south of the Ostanaula, 
General Sweeney's division of the Sixteenth Corps 



196 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

fell into an ambuscade. The troops moved into 
a large open field sheltered by the woods. It was 
not supposed that the enemy were in any con- 
siderable force on our front. The brigade com- 
manded by Colonel Burke, of the Sixty-sixth Illi- 
nois regiment, was ordered forward to take a 
position on the left. They had proceeded but a 
short distance, when the enemy opened fire with 
artillery. Colonel Burke was mortally wounded 
and taken from the field. The whole force of 
General Dodge fell back until it met Osterhaus's 
division coming up on the double quick to their 
support. 

The following morning, at five o'clock, the Sev- 
enteenth Corps marched, the Fifteenth Corps 
leading. Morgan L. Smith's division was in 
advance. In our front was Hardee's Corps, 
said to be commanded by Generals Morgan and 
"Walker. About three o'clock, in the afternoon, 
the rebel cavalry drew up in line, in our front. The 
rain was falling in torrents. They were charged 
upon by the Fifth Kentucky, and at once they re- 
treated into the woods just in their rear. General 
Lightburn sent forward his skirmishers. The rebels 
opened on them with artillery. He then de- 
ployed the other troops of his brigade, and General 
W. S. Smith sent forward the First brigade and 
Lee Grasse's battery. Logan moved up Herron's 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 197 

division on the left, and Osterhaus took position 
behind Morgan L. Smith. After a few shots from 
our battery, the rear-guard of the enemy again re- 
treated. After following and skirmishing about a 
mile, our advance reached Rocky Creek, and se- 
cured the intersection of the road to Adairsville. 
An eye-witness of this affair informs us, that "soon 
after the commencement of the skirmish on the 
Pine Road, heavy cannonading was heard from 
Howard's column in the valley east of us. His fire 
was heavy, especially of artillery, and sounded 
almost like a general engagement. The Fourth 
Corps, moving down that road as the center 
column, had overtaken the enemy and was en- 
gaged. The division of General Newton, formerly 
Sheridan's, was in advance, with the brigade com- 
manded by Colonel Frank T. Sherman, Eighty- 
eighth Illinois, in the immediate front. Frank's 
brigade, with Miller's brigade, were heavily en- 
gaged for some time, loosing 165 killed and 
wounded, the Eighty-eighth Illinois loosing 34 
and the Seventy-fourth Illinois 55. The enemy 
were finally driven into their intrenchments at 
Adairsville. 

" The result of the day's work left the center in 
front of the enemy in Adairsville. The head of 
General MePherson's column was resting on the 
Adairsville Road, whence it could strike Johnston 



198 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

from the west, and the Sixteenth Corps was at an- 
other cross road from the Rome to the Adairsville 
Road. Hardee had passed over the mountain to 
Adairsville where Johnston was in person. Early 
in the morning the Fifteenth Corps moved by the 
Rocky Creek Road towards Adairsville, General 
Dodge moving on the other cross roads. There 
were indications that Johnston intended to make a 
stand at that place. Johnston saw the trap and 
departed in the night time. Sherman's strategy 
was again successful. His columns had been so 
marched that in three hours he was able to con- 
centrate them in case the rebels would receive 
battle. 

" The grand army presented a most splendid 
military pageant as it entered Adairsville. Leav- 
ing Adairsville, the right wing passed over a very 
high mountain, reaching the Kingston Road at 
"Woodville about midnight. The centre and left 
moved simultaneously on parallel roads. "When 
the right wing left the Rome Road in the morning, 
the Second cavalry division, General Gerrard, 
moved forward on the Kingston Road. Near 
Woodland, his advance, the Fourth Michigan cav- 
alry, found the enemy's cavalry in considerable 
force, and disposed to wait his advance. The 
valley in which they were was narrow, and the 
roadside a considerable part of the way woods, so 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 199 

that only a small force could be used. The two 
battalions of the Michigan cavalry understood the 
business and acquitted themselves right gallantly. 
The rebels concealed themselves in the bushes and 
behind the fences and houses along the roadside, 
and fired upon our cavalry. But nothing checked 
the impetuosity or courage of the troops. It 
charged the rebels and drove them from every 
hiding place, and killed and wounded a large num- 
ber of them. The rebels fled in consternation. 
The Fourth Michigan lost one killed and eleven 
wounded. As we rode into Kingston the next 
morning we saw the evidences of their splendid 
fighting, dead horses and new made graves mark- 
ing a distance of more than four miles, over which 
your Michigan soldiers drove them. On the 18th 
we moved into and about Kingston. During the 
same day JefF. C. Davis, with his division, who left 
the main army on the 16th at Resaca, entered 
Home and captured the foundries and arsenals 
there, and a large amount of commissary stores. 
In the night a train of cars arrived over the railroad 
to Kingston." 

Rome is situated at the confluence of the Osta- 
naula and Etowah Rivers, which form the Coosa 
River. Kingston and Cassville are three or four 
miles north of the Etowah, and about twelve miles 
east of Rome. 



200 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Here about two days were devoted to rest, which 
seemed to be absolutely necessary, after the fa- 
tiguing marches, battle and skirmishes heretofore 
described. 

On the 23d, the Fourteenth Army Corps lost 
twenty-five wagons near Kingston. 

After resting and perfecting arrangements for 
an advance, the forces of Generals Thomas, Scho- 
field and McPherson were ordered across the Eto- 
wah River, in the direction of the enemy. They 
were provided with twenty days rations, and the 
commissariat and quartermaster's department were 
to be supplied from the country. Indiscriminate 
plundering was strictly prohibited, and foraging 
parties were organized for the purpose of collecting 
provisions, giving receipts for the same, and dis- 
tributing them to the army. 

At the dawn of daylight on the 23d, the tents of 
Hooker's corps were struck. Says one who wit- 
nessed the movement of this force : " Soon after 
daylight the star corps, with their long trains of 
of white-topped wagons, were wending their way 
through the forests and over the hills and valleys 
of Georgia. On we went, along the yellow, dirty 
roads, through plowed fields, where grew hills of 
young corn, never to be gathered — through green 
fields of ripening grain — never to be harvested — 
through gardens and door yards, whence flowers 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 201 

were plucked only to adorn the soldiers dusty 
caps — over rocky, gravelly, sandy soil, which re- 
flected the scorching heat of the sun, and gave 
forth clouds of yellow dust — past wells and springs, 
where there were ten thirsty soldiers eagerly 
clutching at every cupfull of water — over stony 
hills, and through shady dells, amidst the grateful 
foliage of the odorous young pines and broad 
leafed elms, where woodbines flaunt their gay flo- 
ral clusters and the more modest forest gems peep 
above the gravelly slopes and hide behind the 
graceful fronds of the blooming fern. 

" Regiment after regiment, brigade after brigade, 
division after division — infantry, cavalry and artil- 
lery — red, white and blue, start in one glorious 
galaxy, pursue their resistless course across the 
sacred soil of Georgia — a grand and hopeful sign 
to us, but one full of dire portent and ominous of 
desolation to the wicked instigators of this reckless 
rebellion. 

The bridges leading across the Etowah and 
Coosa Rivers had been burned by the enemy. 
This, however, caused but little delay, as the pon- 
toniers soon threw bridges across the rivers. 
One wing of Sherman's army crossed the Etowah, 
on the afternoon of the 23d. General Schofield's 
Corps after crossing the river moved off to the left. 
General Hascal was in command of Brigadier 



202 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

General Manson's brigade, as the latter had 
not recovered froni the wound received at the battle 
of Pesaca. 

After crossing the river the forces proceeded in 
line of battle. Our advance skirmished with the 
enemy during part of the day. Several of our 
men were wounded by their shells. Cannonading 
was heard, at intervals, all along the lines. 

On the 24th, skirmishing was quite frequent, 
and during the night, as many as one hundred 
and twenty-five wagons were captured from the 
Twenty-third Corps, by "Wheeler's troopers. 

The enemy under command of the rebel Gen- 
erals Hood and Polk, were driven into their strong 
retreat on Pumpkin Vine Creek, in one of the 
gaps in the Altoona mountains, where they took 
shelter behind their breastworks. This engage- 
ment commenced about two o'clock P. M. on the 
25th, and continued with great fury for about two 
hours. 

The enemy were driven through the woods a 
distance of one mile and a half, with very consi- 
derable loss on both sides. At the commencement 
of the fight, General Geary's First division of the 
Twentieth Corps engaged the enemy. He was 
soon reenforced by Generals Williams' and Butter- 
field's divisions. General Hooker finally ordered 
a bayonet charge, and the men rushed forward 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 203 

with, a shout and drove the enemy out of one of 
their lines. Towards evening, a severe storm was 
raging, during which, amid the darkness, several 
of our soldiers were lost. 

The next morning skirmishing was renewed. 
The enemy was again forced back, and rapidly 
followed by our forces. Suddenly Geary's Second 
division received a destructive fire from the woods 
on the flank. They had been lured into an am- 
buscade, and masked batteries were opened upon 
our men with destructive effect. Hooker and staff 
received a volley which killed one of the escort. 
Our loss was heavy. 

The object of these engagements seemed to have 
been to hold and keep the enemy engaged, while 
McPherson with the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Sev- 
enteenth Corps should get on the enemy's flank at 
Dallas. On the 28th our army was in position in 
front of the enemy, strongly posted four miles 
from Dallas. 

The next day the enemy massed his forces for 
an assault on our works, which had been hastily 
erected. The fighting was terrible, and the slaugh- 
ter of the enemy great. He was driven back in 
confusion. At the same time a powerful attack 
was made on McPherson on the right. This 
was repulsed, the enemy losing in killed and 
wounded not less than 2,000, probably many more. 



204 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

A correspondent of one of our public journals 
gives the following interesting account of the 
attack and repulse of the enemy : 

" About five in the afternoon the rebels advanced 
their skirmishers along the whole front of the 
Army of the Tennessee. Our front was covered 
with a rifle-pit extending along its whole length, a 
distance of some two miles, and the right flank by 
'Wilder's brigade of the Second cavalry division. 
Harrow's Fourth division of the Fifteenth Corps 
had the extreme right of the line, and Veatch's, 
the Fourth division of the Sixteenth Corps, the 
extreme left — the centre, consisting of Sweeney's 
division of the Sixteenth and Morgan L. Smith's 
and Osterhaus' division of the Fifteenth Corps. 

" The enemy advancing a heavy line of skirmish- 
ers, in a short time fell back to the rifle-pits. Our 
troops of the main army, who were quietly observ- 
ing the movements of the enemy, at the first vol- 
ley of the skirmishers, fell instantly into their 
places behind the breastworks. General and field 
and staff and line officers sprang to their posts, and 
in less time than I occupy in narrating, the Army 
of the Tennessee was in line to receive assault. 
Two miles of as good men as ever stood in line of 
battle, all Western regiments but one, confronted 
Hardee's and Polk's Corps. For the first time in 
the war, with nearly all the regiments, our men 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 205 

were behind breastworks and being attacked. It 
had carried many a one such as the rude work of 
logs before them. It had also charged up to the 
strong works of Vicksburg and Jackson. But 
now they were to be charged, and some wondered 
if as they had always driven the rebels from similar 
works, they could be held by our Western men. 

" Although it was well understood that the 
movement of the trains had attracted the notice 
of the rebels, and would very probably induce the 
belief that our positions were being changed, and 
that an attack was very probable, yet the attack 
was so sudden and so rapid that it was necessary 
to make haste quickly with orders and dispositions. 

" General Logan at the first volley mounted his 
horse, and rode rapidly along to the front. Fol- 
lowing close after our skirmishers, as they fell back 
to rifle-pits, came the rebel lines of battle. With 
a rebel yell they rushed headlong, charging bravely 
on the whole line, at the same time under a heavy 
fire of artillery. Under the orders of their offi- 
cers, these troops reserved their &re and awaited 
the shock. Logan rode along the whole line of 
his corps, hat in hand, his black hair streaming in 
the air, and at full speed, urging his men at the 
top of his voice, to " save their fire and give them 
h — 11." The effect was electrical, the regiments 
cheered with a will, and one could mark his 



206 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

progress along the line by the shouts of his 
regiments. 

" Soon after General McPherson and his staff 
rode from his headquarters, on the left of the Six- 
teenth Corps, along the whole line. The battle was 
raging furiously, but the men saw their command- 
er, and their cheers arose wildly upon the din of 
battle. Altogether, that short hour, with the en- 
thusiastic shouts of the Federals, the fierce yells 
of the rebels, and the continuous crash of small 
arms, was fearfully exciting. 

" The Federal line reserved its fire until the 
rebels were within thirty yards. The first volley 
was instantaneous. It seemed to leap from the 
long line of rifle-pits at the moment of time. Such 
another single volley of musketry has seldom been 
heard. The volley from the rear flank followed, 
and the battle was opened. The rebels fell like 
grain — scores at a time lay side by side. The 
battle lasted until night. It was mostly confined to 
infantry. In the line of the Second division, Gen- 
eral Giles A. Smith had placed a section of battery 
B, First artillery, which, double-shotted with grape, 
made great havoc. On Harris' line a section of the 
First Iowa battery was at the front. The re- 
mainder of the artillery was on the high ground 
back of the line of battle. In the close struggle 
for the rifle-pits, it could not be used without 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 207 

injuring alike friend and ioe. How and in what 
manner the terrible struggle of the rebels to 
drive in the right wing was conducted, I cannot 
tell you. All we know is that they repeatedly re- 
formed and renewed the assaults, and with the 
utmost desperation charged up to the very muzzles 
of our rifles, and that these ineffectual assaults and 
struggles were renewed until the rebel force, all 
cut up, was withdrawn. On the extreme right the 
rebels, at one turn, gained a slight advantage. The 
Second brigade was slightly shattered, and a sec- 
tion of the First Iowa battery captured. Just at 
this time General Logan rode up and ordered the 
guns to be recaptured. The Sixth Iowa charged 
the enemy and retook the guns. The brigade suf- 
fered severely. Colonel Dickerman, of the One 
Hundred and Third Illinois, fell mortally wounded. 
Major Giesy, of the Forty-sixth Ohio, and Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Miller, of the Sixth Iowa, fell mor- 
tally wounded. In the front of the brigade 272 
. dead and wounded rebels lay in sight at daylight. 
Wilder's brigade of mounted infantry, which was 
on the right flank, was dismounted, and came up 
and poured in a continuous oblique fire from the 
sixteen shooting rifles. The rebel loss in his front 
was heavy. At one place in front of Lightburn's 
brigade, twenty-one dead rebels lay m one heap. 
In the front of Veatch's division, a portion of the 



208 

rebel line was staggered, and its left fell back to 
the right. As it fell back, General Dodge saw the 
opportunity and ordered a regiment over the breast- 
works. The regiment delivered an oblique fire 
that left over a hundred on the field. 

" General Dodge buried 160 in his front. Con- 
sidered in all respects, the desperate valor of the 
rebels, the rapidity and pertinacity of the assaults, 
the coolness and steadiness with which our men 
and officers received and repulsed them, the slight 
loss of our army, and the terrible slaughter of the 
rebels, it was one of the most remarkable battles 
of the war. 

" Our loss did not reach 100. The rebel loss 
cannot be ascertained by us with certainty. About 
the close of the engagement a rebel officer shouted 
to General Morgan L. Smith, that General Hardee 
wished the firing stopped that he might bring 
off his wounded. He was answered by General 
McPherson's order, that if he would send a flag he 
would answer it. During the night all the rebel 
wounded that could, crawled back into their lines. 
As soon as it was light the next morning our men 
commenced burying the rebel dead and bringing 
in the rebel wounded, but were frequently fired 
upon, so that their interment was by no means 
completed. We buried, however, during the day 
450 rebels. At that amount alone, their loss must 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 209 

have reached at least 2,000 in killed and wounded. 
Estimating six wounded to one killed, I think that 
3,000 is a reasonable estimate of the rebel loss in 
their assault upon the Army of the Tennessee. 

" A deserter, who came in to-day, says he heard 
General Hardee say that he had lost 2,500 of his 
best men. The rebel officers and men who have 
fallen into our hands all stated that they had been 
informed, and believed, that our army was, to a 
very great extent, composed of 100 days' men. 
They did not expect to meet the veterans of the 
Western Army. 

"I regret to record a severe casualty to Colonel 
Ezra Taylor, of Chicago, chief of artillery of the 
Department of. the Tennessee. As he was riding 
along the lines of the Fifteenth Corps, with Gen- 
eral Logan, this afternoon, a rifle ball struck Gen- 
eral Logan on the arm, tearing his coat sleeve, and 
glancing, struck Colonel Taylor. The ball passed 
through his coat, a thick book, and entering at the 
right nipple, passed around next to the bones, and 
lodged under the edge of the shoulder-blade. The 
wound is severe, but not dangerous. He starts for 
his home to-night. Colonel Taylor is a faithful, 
hard-working, and very competent officer. He is 
much esteemed by his superior officers, and his loss 
to the service is just now unfortunate/' 

On the 31st, the enemy made a feeble attack on 



210 

our line, and were repulsed. On Thursday noon 
we entered Dallas. 

A letter writer, who was with the army at the 
time, gives the following account of the situation 
on June 1st : 

" Dallas, Ga., June 1st. 

" Since the night of the 29th of May, when the 
rebels made so furious an attack on our lines, and 
were so gallantly repulsed, nothing of special note 
has occurred. The little excitement attendant on 
an expected change of the line of attack, involving 
a retreat from this position, has died away, though 
the trains of several corps have been already 
6 hauled out' on the Marietta Road in the direction 
indicated. McPherson's guns are occasionally 
heard on our extreme right, and those of Howard 
and Schofield more frequently on our left. The 
position of the contending armies is in the high, 
rolling and heavily timbered region near the sources 
of those numerous streams which, flowing in oppo- 
site directions, supply the waters of the Etowah on 
the north, and the Chattahoochee on the southeast. 
The ravines and hollows thus formed are compara- 
tively safe and excellent retreats for our ambulance 
wagons, saddle horses, &c. 

"We are now about twenty-five miles from our 
railroad base of communications and supplies at 
Kingston, the rebels being about sixteen miles from 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 211 

their railroad base at Marietta, on the Kingston 
and Atlanta Railroad. 

" Our lines extend in a bold curve from north- 
west to southeast, the right including Dallas, and 
the left resting on and including Burnt Hickory. 
Our lines of fortifications, consisting of successive 
tiers of breastworks, redoubts, earthworks, &c, 
erected along this curve about fourteen miles. The 
position of the rebels confronts ours. Both par- 
ties are continually throwing up new works, and 
constructing additional defenses, forts, &c. The 
tops of the intervening hills are torn into shreds, 
or cut clean off by the iron storms. Yesterday 
a nest of sharp-shooters who, under cover of a 
house, had been annoying the men of Butter- 
field's division, came under the observation of that 
general, and very soon received the attention of 
the most valuable battery, which demolished the 
house in a twinkling about the ears of the aston- 
ished rebs, and scattered the rascals like chaff. 
Their sharp-shooters, perched in trees and every 
possible place of ambuscade, have been and still are 
a source of great annoyance, and have contributed 
much to the casualties of our men. 

" The head-quarters of several geuerals have been 
occasionally moved on account of shells and other 
missiles, which somehow find their way everywhere. 
The other day a shell burst at General Thomas' 



212 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

head-quarters, scattering the tents and furniture, 
and killing or wounding one man, and playing 
smash generally. Generals Hooker and Butterfield 
have had equally narrow escapes. One man was 
killed while getting water from a spring near the 
head-quarters of the latter. 

" Use renders these men cool and even callous 
in the presence of these messengers of death. 
Yesterday a man on the skirmish line received a 
ball in the cheek, which came out behind his ear, 
through the strong cords of the neck. A stretcher 
was brought, but he kicked it over, with an oath, 
walked to the surgeon, and had his wound probed 
and dressed, and returned to his company, swear- 
ing he would * make the rebs pay for that.' He was 
from an Eastern regiment." 

The rebel General Johnston had selected a posi- 
tion of great natural strength, near his base of 
supplies, and had one railroad and three good 
wagon roads over which he could move. His army 
had been reenforced by all available troops, and he 
was undoubtedly anxious that Sherman would risk 
a general engagement. Here Sherman again 
evinced his good generalship, by determining not 
to attack Johnston in his intrenchments, but by 
flank movements to force him into the open field. 
Accordingly the movement was ordered to be from 
the right to the left of our line. The trains were 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 213 

moved east, and in the rear of the troops. The 
first movement was made with great success on 
the 3d of June. A division of the Sixteenth Corps 
moved in the night to a line of rifle-pits and re- 
doubts on a commanding position, about three 
miles northeast of the extreme right. The division 
was thus on a position to cover the withdrawal of 
the remainder of the right wing at daylight. Soon 
after dawn General Logan commenced moving his 
corps. It was expected that this movement could 
not be made without an attack from the enemy. 
The Fifteenth Corps moved so as to be in constant 
readiness to resist any attack that might be made. 
But for some reason, probably ignorance of the 
movement, our forces were not molested. In fact, 
it is said that the pickets of the enemy kept up 
firing in the woods some time after our pickets, 
under Colonel Parry, of the Forty-seventh Ohio 
regiment, were withdrawn. Veatch's division, of 
the Sixteenth Corps, followed the Fifteenth as far 
as the intrenchments held by Sweeny, and Jeff. C. 
Davis' division, of the Fourteenth Corps, moved 
along a parallel road of his own construction, in 
the same direction with Logan. This movement- 
was made with the greatest celerity and precision, 
and gave to the army a stronger position and 
stronger front. As soon as the enemy discovered 
the movement of our army, he evacuated his works 



214 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

in our front. General Logan's skirmishers found 
the works abandoned, except by a few pickets, who 
were captured. The skirmishers of the Fourteenth 
Corps were firing into the works, which they sup- 
posed sheltered thousands of rebels, when, to their 
great astonishment, they discovered the American 
flag floating over the enemy's intrenchments. 

On the morning of the 6th, at daylight, the 
Army of the Tennessee marched to Ackworth, and 
thus Sherman's strategy was successful. 

On the 7th, General Sherman sent the following 
dispatch to the War Department, at Washington : 

"I have been to Altoona Pass and find it very 
admirable 1 for our purpose. It is the gate through 
the last or most eastern sphere of the Alleghanies. 
It now becomes as useful to us as it was to the 
enemy, being easily defended from either direc- 
tion. The roads hence from Ackworth into Geor- 
gia are large and good, and the country more 
open. The enemy is not in our immediate front, 
but his signals are seen at Lost Mountain and 
Kenesaw." 

Thus it will be seen that from the 1st of May, 
when the Army of the Mississippi began to move 
towards Ringgold, up to this date, the 7th of June, 
it had made a most wonderful and successful cam- 
paign. It had marched over mountains, through 
gorges and dangerous gaps, forded streams, built 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 215 

bridges, scaled precipices, and constructed roads 
through the wildest of countries; had fought 
battles, skirmished almost every day, by moon- 
light, and amid darkness and howling storms ; and 
had captured every strong-hold from a large and 
well-officered army, and driven them back within 
thirty miles of Atlanta. 

Previous to this time the public had not regarded 
Sherman as a military genius or a very cautious 
general. He was considered to be a bold, fear- 
less, and hard fighter, but very reckless. The 
manner in which he had conducted the campaign 
thus far, had removed these impressions, and he 
has since that time been regarded as one of our 
ablest generals. 

INCIDENTS. 

We will close this chapter with the following in- 
cidents, which we give upon the authority of 
various correspondents. 

A rebel who had voluntarily given himself up, 
was asked by one of our soldiers what he thought 
of Sherman. This was his reply: "Sherman gits 
on a hill, flops his wings and crows ; then yells 
out, attention ! creation ! by kingdoms right 
wheel ! march ! and then we git" 

Some of the prisoners, with an air of great 
curiosity inquired in reference to the breech-load- 
ing Henry rifle, which can be fired sixteen times 



216 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

without re-loading : " Where do you get those guns 
which you load on Sunday, and fire all the week without 
re-loading f "• 

A YANKEE TRICK. 

Colonel Wolcott of the Forty-sixth Ohio, played 
an original and striking trick upon the rebels in 
his front. They were behind a very heavy earth- 
work and safe from our sharpshooters. Advancing 
his regiment he constructed a substantial rifle pit, 
in which he placed his regiment entirely covered 
from the rebels, and within short range of their 
works. He then formed columns some distance in 
the rear with considerable display, as if about 
to storm the rebel works. After he had sufficiently 
attracted their attention, his bugles sounded "for- 
ward." The rebels jumped to their works in read- 
iness to resist an assault. The "Johnnies" thus 
exposed the half of their bodies above the parapet, 
and instantly received full and square in their faces 
the volleys of the sixteen shooters of the Forty- 
sixth. The line fell down and the survivors thun- 
derstruck by the unexpected fire, ran without cere- 
mony out of the works. No doubt they considered 
it a Yankee trick. 

JEFF. C DAVIS' JOKE. 

General Jeff. C. Davis played a serious joke 
upon the enemy in his front, of which I have not 
given you the particulars. Davis' division was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 217 

near the foot of a hill, near the the top of which 
, the rebels had a strong intrenchment. Davis ad- 
vanced a regiment as skirmishers np the hill 
through the woods. It moved pretty well up to 
the work, and finding it too strong to assault, the 
colonel halted his command, and reported to Gen- 
eral Davis that he could not proceed any further 
without great loss. Davis ordered him to hold his 
men in that position until lie should hear his signal 
to withdraw. Leaving an interval of the length 
of his regiment, he put troops on either side and 
in front of this space in ambush, and sounded the 
recall. As the regiment commenced falling back 
leisurely, the rebels came out of their work, and 
with a tremendous yell, charged down the slope 
expecting to capture the retreating Yankees. The 
speed of our men was accelerated and down they 
rushed to their place in the line, pursued closely 
by the rebels. The result was a fearful slaugh- 
ter of the entrapped confederates. Few of the 
assailants escaped Davis' enfilading fire. 



CHAPTER X. 

SHERMAN'S GREAT CAMPAIGN FROM CHATTANOOGA TO 
ATLANTA. 

operations of the army from june seventh to the 

capture of atlanta sherman's report efforts 

to break the enemy's lines between kenesaw 

and pine mountains death of general polk — 

mcpherson's operations — two direct assaults — 

kenesaw abandoned the pursuit passage of 

the chattahoochee the battle of the twentieth 

johnston relieved attack on our right po- 
sitions of our forces sudden attack death of 

mcpherson grand movement of the right flank 

kilpatrick's operations sherman's flank 

movement and the capture of atlanta bom- 
bardment of atlanta — sherman's congratulatory 

ORDER. 

The last chapter brings the account of this won- 
derful campaign to June 7, 1864. In this chapter 
we propose following him to the capture of Atlanta. 
The details of this part of the campaign cannot 
be given in this chapter, but will be given in a 
subsequent aud separate part. 

We learn from General Sherman's official report, 
upon which we base our statements in this chapter, 
that dispositions were made to break the lines of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 219 

the enemy between Kenesaw and Pine Mountains. 
This was on the 11th. General Hooker was placed 
on the right and front, and General Howard on 
the left and front of the enemy's position, and 
General Palmer between it and the railroad. 
During a sharp cannonading from Howard's right 
or Hooker's left, General Polk, the renowned 
bishop of the Episcopal Church, was killed on the 
14th. 

On the morning of the 14th, Pine Mountain was 
found abandoned by the enemy. Generals Thomas 
and Schofield advanced, and found the enemy 
again strongly intrenched along a line of rugged 
hills connecting Kenesaw and Lost Mountains. At 
the same time General McPherson advanced his 
liue, gaining substantial advantage on the left. 
Pushing operations on the centre as vigorously as 
the nature of the ground would permit, Gen- 
eral Sherman ordered an assault on the centre, 
when, on the 17th, the enemy abandoned Lost 
Mountain, and the long line of admirable breast- 
works connecting it with Kenesaw Mountain. Our 
forces continued to press at all points, skirmishing 
in dense forests of timber and across most difficult 
ravines, until they found the enemy again strongly 
posted and intrenched, with Kenesaw as his salient 
point, his right wing being thrown back so as to 
cover Marietta, and his left behind dose's Creek, 



220 

covering the railroad back to the Chattahoochee 
River. This enabled the enemy to contract his 
lines, and strengthen them greatly. 

On the 27th of June, two direct assaults were 
made for the purpose of dislodging them, but they 
failed. On the 1st of July, Sherman ordered Gen- 
eral McPherson to throw his whole army, by the 
right, down to and through Mckajack Creek and 
Turner's Ferry, across the Chattahoochee. Gen- 
eral McPherson commenced this movement on the 
night of July 2d, and the effect was instantaneous. 
The next morning Kenesaw Mountain was aban- 
doned, "and," says Sherman, "with the first dawn 
of morning I saw our skirmishers appear off on 
the mountain top." We can better imagine than 
describe the feelings of the officers and their men 
at that sight. General Thomas' whole line was 
then moved forward to the railroad, and turned 
south in pursuit toward the Chattahoochee. Sher- 
man in person, entered Marietta at half-past eight 
o'clock in the morning, just as the enemy's cavalry 
had vacated the place. 

On the 9th of July, Sherman had secured three 
good and safe points of passage over the Chatta- 
hoochee, with good roads leading to Atlanta. The 
same day Johnston abandoned his position on the 
river, burned his bridges, and left Sherman undis- 
puted master north and west of the Chattahoochee 
at daylight on the 10th of July. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 221 

On the 20th of July, all the armies had closed in, 
converging toward Atlanta. During the afternoon 
of the 20th, about four o'clock, the enemy sallied 
from his works in force, and fell in line of battle 
against our right centre, which was composed of 
General Newton's division, of General Howard's 
corps, on the Buckhead Road ; of General Hook- 
er's corps, next south, and General Johnson's divi- 
sion, of General Palmer's corps. The blow was 
sudden and somewhat unexpected, but General 
Newton had hastily covered his front by a line of 
rail piles, which enabled him to meet and repulse 
the attack. General Hooker's whole corps was 
uncovered, and had to fight on comparatively open 
ground. After a very severe battle the enemy was 
driven back to his intrenchments. The action in 
front of General Johnson was comparatively light, 
that division being well intrenched. The enemy 
left on the field over 500 dead, about 1,000 wounded 
severely, 7 stands of colors, and many prisoners. 
The loss of our army was not over 1,500 in killed, 
wounded and missing. On account of the exposed 
condition of Hooker's corps, the greatest loss fell 
on it. 

Sherman was greatly surprised to find, on the 
morning of the 22d, that the enemy had abandoned 
their whole line. He supposed from this that he 
had resolved to give up Atlanta without further 



222 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

contest ; but General Johnston had been relieved 
of his command, and General Hood substituted in 
his place. A new policy had been adopted, as the 
bold attack on our right seemed to indicate. As 
soon as the movement was discovered, our ad- 
vancing ranks swept across the strong and well- 
finished parapet of the enemy, and closed in upon 
Atlanta, until our forces occupied a line in the 
form of a general circle of about two miles radius, 
when we again found him occupying, in force, a line 
of finished redoubts, which had been prepared for 
more than a year, covering all the roads leading 
into Atlanta, and we found him also busy in con- 
necting these redoubts with curtains strengthened 
by rifle trenches, abattis and chevaux-de-frize. 

General McPherson, who had advanced from 
Decatur, continued to follow the railroad, with the 
Fifteenth Corps, General Logan ; the Seventeenth, 
General Blair, on its left ; and the Sixteenth, Gen- 
eral Dodge, on its right ; but as the general ad- 
vance of all the armies contracted the circle, the 
Sixteenth Corps, was thrown out of line by 
the Fifteenth connecting on the right with 
General Schofield near the Howard House. Gen- 
eral McPherson, the night before, had gained a 
high hill to the south and east of the railroad, 
where the Seventeenth Corps had, after a severe 
fight, driven the enemy, and it gave him a most 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 223 

commanding position, within easy view of the very 
heart of the city. He had thrown out working 
parties to it, and was making preparations to oc- 
cupy it in strength with the batteries. The 
Sixteenth Corps, was ordered from right to 
left to occupy this position and make it a 
strong general left flank. General Dodge was 
moving by a diagonal path, or wagon track, lead- 
ing from the Decatur Road, in the direction of 
General Blair's left flank. General McPherson 
remained with General Sherman until near noon- 
day, when reports reached them that indicated a 
movement of the enemy on that flank. McPher- 
son then mounted and rode away with his staff. 
The day before, Sherman had detached General 
Garrard's cavalry to go to Covington, on the 
Augusta Road, forty-two miles east of Atlanta, and 
from that point to send detachments to break the 
two important bridges across the Yellow and Ulco- 
fauhatchee Rivers, tributaries of the Ocomulgee. 
General McPherson had left his wagon train at 
Decatur, under a guard of three regiments com- 
manded by Colonel, now General Sprague. Soon 
after McPherson left Sherman at the Howard 
House, as above stated, General Sherman heard 
the sound of musketry to our left rear, at first mere 
pattering shots, but soon they grew in volume, 
accompanied with artillery, and about the same 



224 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

time the sound of guns was heard in the direction 
of Decatur. No doubt could longer be entertained 
of the enemy's plan of action, which was to throw 
a superior force on our left flank, while vhe held 
us with his forts in front, the only question being 
as to the amount of force he could employ at that 
point. Sherman hastily transmitted orders to all 
points of our centre and right to press fojf|vard and 
to give full employment to all the enemy in his 
lines, and for General Schofield to hold as large a 
force in reserve as possible, and await develop- 
ments. Not more than half an hour after General 
McPherson had left his adjutant general, Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Clark rode up to Sherman and in- 
formed him that General McPherson was either 
dead or a prisoner ; and that after he had ridden 
from him towards General Dodge's columns, and 
had sent off nearly all his staff and orderlies on 
various errands, he passed into a narrow path or 
road that led to the left and rear of General Giles 
A. Smith's division, which was General Blair's ex- 
treme left ; that a few minutes after a sharp volley 
of musketry was heard in that direction, and his 
horse came out riderless, having two wounds. 
" The suddenness of this terrible calamity" says Sher- 
man, u would have overwhelmed me with grief, but the 
living demanded all my thoughts." Sherman promptly 
dispatched a staff officer to General John A. Logan, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 225 

commanding the Fifteenth Corps, to tell him what 
had happened ; and that he must assnme command 
of the Army of the Tennessee, and hold stubbornly 
the ground already chosen. Sherman paid this 
tribute to General McPherson : " He was a noble 
youth, of striking personal appearance, of the 
highest professional capacity, and with a heart 
abounding in kindness that drew to him the affec- 
tions of all men." His body was recovered, and 
brought to Sherman in the heat of battle, and sent 
in charge of his personal staff back to Marietta, 
and froia thence to his home, at Sandusky, Ohio. 
At Nashville, Louisville, Cincinnati, and all along 
the route to his final resting place, the highest 
tributes of respect were paid to the memory and 
remains of the fallen hero. 

THE GRAND MOVEMENT BY THE RIGHT FLANK. 

Sherman became satisfied that, to reach the Ma- 
con Road, and thereby control the supplies for 
Atlanta, he would be compelled to move the whole 
army. Before beginning this movement, he ordered 
from Chattanooga, four 4J-inch rifled guns, to try 
their effect on the city of Atlanta. These guns 
arrived on the 10th, and were put to work day 
and night, and did execution on the city, causing 
frequent fires, and creating confusion; yet the 
enemy seemed determined to hold his forts, even 
if the city was destroyed. On the 16th of August, 



226 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Sherman issued his orders, prescribing the mode 
and manner of executing the grand movement by 
the right flank, to begin on the 18th. 

This movement contemplated the withdrawal of 
the Twentieth Corps, General Williams, to the 
intrenched position at Chattahoochee Bridge, and 
the march of the main army to the West Point 
Railroad, near Fairburn, and afterwards to the 
Macon Road, at or near Jonesboro', with wagons 
loaded with provisions for fifteen days. About the 
time of the publication of the orders referred to 
above, Sherman learned that Wheeler, with a large 
mounted force, variously estimated from 6,000 to 
10,000 men, had passed around by the east and 
north, and had made his appearance on our lines 
of communication near Adairsville, and had suc- 
ceeded in capturing 200 of our beef cattle, and had 
made a break in the railroad near Calhoun. This 
was just such a movement as Sherman desired. 
He had made ample preparations for such a con- 
tingency, and this movement left him superior to 
the enemy in cavalry. Sherman suspended the 
execution of his orders for the time bein^, and 
ordered General Kilpatrick to make up a well- 
appointed force of about 5,000 cavalry, and move 
from his camp about Sandtown, during the night 
of the 18th, to the West Point Road. This force 
started as ordered, and pushed on to Fairburn, on 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 227 

the West Point Railroad, where it met the enemy 
and dro^e him from the ground. Kilpatrick then 
moved on to Jonesboro', where he did considerable 
damage, and then rested his force for the night 
near Lovejoy's. He succeeded in destroying about 
three miles of the Macon Railroad and one train of 
cars. The enemy attempted to surround his force 
and capture them, but they succeeded in cutting 
their way through their ranks, and moved onward. 
They crossed the Cotton River on the morning of 
the 21st, and reached Lithonia, on the Georgia 
Railroad, east of Atlanta, in the evening of the 
same clay. After resting for the night, the expe- 
dition joined the main army on the following 
morning. 

After an interview with General Kilpatrick, 
Sherman was satisfied that whatever damage he 
had done would not produce the result desired. 
He therefore renewed his orders for the movement 
of the whole army. This, of course, involved the 
necessity of raising the seige of Atlanta, taking the 
field with our main force, and using it against its 
intrenchments. All the army commanders were 
at once notified to send their surplus wagons, 
incumbrances of all kinds, and sick, back to the 
intrenched position at the bridge, and that the 
movement would begin on the night of the 25th. 



228 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Accordingly, all things being ready, the Fourth 
Corps, General Stanley, drew out of its lines on 
the extreme left, and marched to a position below 
Proctor's Creek. The Twentieth Corps, General 
Williams, moved back to the Chattahoochee. 
This movement was made without loss, save a few 
things left in camp by thoughtless officers or men. 
On the night of the 26th, the Army of the Tennessee 
drew out, and moved rapidly by a circuit well 
toward Sandtown, and across Camp Creek. The 
Army of the Cumberland, moved below Utoy 
Creek, and General Schofield remained in position. 
This movement was effected with the loss of but a 
single man in the Army of the Tennessee. He 
was wounded by a shell from the enemy. The 
third move brought the Army of the Tennessee on 
the West Point Railroad, above Fairburn, the 
Army of the Cumberland about Red Oak, and 
General Schofield closed in near Digs and Mims. 
Sherman then ordered one clay's work to be 
expended in destroying the road, and it was done 
with a will. Twelve and one-half miles were 
destroyed, the ties burned, and the rails heated 
and tortured by the utmost in^jmuity of old hands 
at the work. Several cuts were filled up with the 
trunks of trees, with logs, rocks, and earth, inter- 
mingled with loaded shell, prepared with torpedoes, 
to explode in case of an attempt to clear them out. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 229 

Sherman, in person, inspected this work ; and, 
satisfied with the execution, he ordered the army 
to move next day eastward, by several roads — 
General Howard on the right, toward Jonesboro' ; 
General Thomas in the centre, by Shoal Creek 
Church to Couch's, on the Decatur and Fayetteville 
Road; and General Schofield on the left, about 
Morrow's Mills. 

On the 31st of August, the enemy came out of 
his works at Jonesboro', and attacked General 
Howard. Howard was admirably situated to 
receive him, and thoroughly repulsed the attack. 
The attacking party was composed of Lee's and 
Hardee's corps ; and after a contest of more than 
two hours, withdrew, leaving on the field over 400 
dead, and his wounded, of which about 300 were 
left in Jonesboro'. His losses could not have been 
much less than 2,500. Hearing the sound of battle 
at Jonesboro' about noon, orders were renewed to 
push the other movements on the left and centre, 
and about four o'clock P. M. the reports arrived 
simultaneously that General Howard had repulsed 
the enemy at Jonesboro' ; that General Schofield 
had reached the railroad a mile below Rough-and- 
Ready, and was working up the road, breaking it 
as he went; that General Stanley, of General 
Thomas' army, had taken possession of the road 
below General Schofield, and was destroying its 
T 



230 

working south ; and that General Bird, of General 
Davis' Corps, had struck it still lower down, within 
four miles of Jonesboro'. 

Orders were at once given for all the army to 
turn on Jonesboro', and Howard was ordered to 
keep the rebels busy, while Thomas should move 
down from the north, with General Schofield on 
his left. Sherman also ordered the troops, as they 
moved down, to continue the thorough destruction 
of the railroad, because it was then in his hands, 
and he did not know but that events might divert 
attention from it. General Garrard's cavalry was 
directed to watch the roads in the rear, and to the 
north of the army. General Kilpatrick was sent 
south, down the west bank of the Flint River, 
with instructions to attack or threaten the railroad 
below Jonesboro'. Sherman expected the whole 
army would close down on Jonesboro' by noon of 
the 1st of September. General Davis' Corps, 
having a shorter distance to travel, was on time 
and deployed, facing the south, his right in con- 
nection with General Howard, and his left on the 
railroad. General Stanley and General Schofield 
were then moving down along the Rough-and- 
Ready Road, and along the railroad, breaking it 
as they moved. When General Davis joined 
General Howard, General Blair's Corps, on 
Howard's left, was thrown in reserve, and was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 231 

immediately sent well to the right, below Jones- 

boro', to act against that flank, along with General 

.Kilpatrick's cavalry. About four o'clock P. M. 

General Davis was all ready, and commenced the 

assault on the lines across open fields, carrying 

, them very handsomely, and taking, as prisoners, 

i the greater part of Go van's brigade, including its 

commander, with two four-gun batteries. The 

i next morning the enemy was gone. He had 

I retreated south. 

Rumors began to reach Sherman, through 

I prisoners, that Atlanta had been abandoned during 

I the night of September 1st : that Hood had blown 

J up his ammunition trains, which accounted for the 

| sounds so plainly heard in the direction of Atlanta, 

| but which, as yet, had not been explained ; that 

\ Stewart's corps was then retreating towards 

! MeDonough, and that the militia had gone off 

towards Covington. It was then too late for 

Sherman to interfere and attempt to prevent their 

escape, and besides he was well satisfied with the 

substantial victory already gained. Accordingly, 

he ordered the work of destroying the railroad to 

cease, and the troops to be held in hand, ready 

for any movement that further information from 

Atlanta might warrant. 

General Davis' corps had been left above Jones- 
boro, and General Garrard's cavalry was still 



232 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

further back, and the latter was ordered to send 
to Atlanta and ascertain the exact truth, and the 
real situation of affairs. But the same night 
(September 4th), a courier arrived from General 
.Slocum, reporting the fact that the enemy had 
evacuated Atlanta, blown up seven trains of cars, 
and had retreated on the McDonough Road. 
General Slocum had entered and taken possession 
on the 2d of September. 

The object of the movement against the railroad 
was, therefore, already reached and concluded. 
As it was idle to pursue the enemy in that wooded 
country with a view to his capture, Sherman gave 
orders, on the 4th, to prepare to move back slowly 
to Atlanta. On the 5th his forces moved to Jones- 
boro', five miles, where they remained a day. On 
the 7th they moved to Rough and Ready, seven 
miles, and the next day to the camps selected. The 
Army of the Cumberland were grouped round 
about Atlanta, the Army of the Tennessee about 
East Point, and that of the Ohio at Decatur, where 
the troops occupied clean and healthful camps. 

Thus Sherman again accomplished, by wise and 
honorable strategy, what he could not have other- 
wise done without the sacrifice of his noble army. 
"Whoever will consider the extent and strength of 
the fortifications of Atlanta, as represented by the 
enemy, will not doubt the truth of this statement. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 233 

An eye witness of the bombardment of Atlanta, 
who was within the fortifications at the time, thus 
speaks of their strength, and the comparative 
security of the citizens : 

" The trenches are impregnable. It might be 
possible for a heavy massed column to penetrate 
them, but not without immense loss, and then not 
to be held. The works, which were admirably 
located at first, have been materially strengthened, 
and the assaults of the enemy (Sherman's forces) 
have only developed our most commanding posi- 
tions, and demonstrated where the engineer's skill 
and the miner's labor could be employed to the 
best advantage. 

" In front of the great circular line of intrench- 
ments, for many rods, the fields are broken and 
irregular, dotted with stumps, and strewn with a 
complete tangle of tree tops and branches forming 
a barrier against approach. In front of the batte- 
ries, blind pit-falls, miniature stockades, palisades 
and chevaux-de-frise work in all directions, and 
make a net work out of whose entanglement a wild fox 
could barely escape. By the time a charging line 
could pass these barriers, under a tornado of grape- 
shot, shell and minie, the line would be so broken 
and reduced as to be totally ineffectual. 

" The works are almost invulnerable, and every 
day adds something to their strength, and the soil 
is unfavorable to mining operations. 



234 

" There are also excavations in the soil, roofed 
with heavy logs, over which is heaped the loose 
earth to the height of a yonng Ararat. These 
little mounds may be seen all over the city. The 
garden to almost every house which does not boast 
a cellar is supplied with its artificial bomb-proof. 
They are perfectly secure against the metal storm, 
and many of them are quite comfortably furnished 
with beds and chairs and other furniture. Women 
and children are huddled together in them for 
hours at a time, and when the city is furiously 
shelled at night, the whole community may be said 
to be under ground. Especially is this the case 
when the moon is unusually bright, and the ap- 
proach of the shells cannot be marked by their 
fiery trail." 

We close this chapter with Sherman's congratu- 
latory order to his troops, and his resume of the 
operations of the campaign : 

Head-quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Atlanta, Ga., 

Thursday, September 8, 1864. 

Special Field Orders No. 68. 

The officers and soldiers of the Armies of the Cumberland, 
Ohio and Tennessee have already received the thanks of the 
nation, through its President and Commander-in-Chief; and it 
now remains only for him who has been with you from the begin- 
ning, and who intends to stay all the time, to thank the officers 
and men for their intelligence, fidelity and courage displayed in 
the campaign of Atlanta. 



?pi, ^ 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 235 

On the 1st of May our armies were lying in garrison, seemingly 
quiet, from Knoxville to Huntsville, and our enemy lay behind 
his rocky-faced barrier at Dalton, proud, defiant and exulting. 
He had had time since Christmas to recover from his discomfiture 
on the Mission Ridge, with his ranks filled, and a new commander- 
in-chief second to none of the Confederacy in reputation for skill, 
sagacity and extreme popularity. All at once our armies assumed 
life and action, and appeared before Dalton ; threatening Rocky 
Face, we threw ourselves upon Resaca, and the rebel army only 
escaped by the rapidity of his retreat, aided by the numerous 
roads with which he was familiar, and which were strange to us. 
Again he took post in Altoona, but we gave him no rest, and by 
a circuit towards Dallas, and subsequent movement to Ackworth, 
we gained the Altoona Pass. Then followed the eventful 
battles about Kenesaw, and the escape of the enemy across the 
Chattahoochee River. 

The crossing of the Chattahoochee and breaking of the Augusta 
Road was most handsomely executed by us, and will be studied as 
an example in the art of war. At this stage of our game, our 
enemies became dissatisfied with their old and skillful comman- 
der, and selected one more bold and rash. New tactics were 
adopted. Hood first boldly and rapidly, on the 20th ©f July, fell 
on our right at Peach Tree Creek, and lost ; again, on the 22d, he 
struck our extreme left, and was severely punished, and finally 
again, on the 28th, he repeated the attempt on our right, and that 
time must have been satisfied, for since that date he has remained 
on the defensive. We slowly and gradually drew our lines about 
Atlanta, feeling for the railroads which supplied the rebel army 
and made Atlanta a place of importance. We must concede to 
our enemy that he met these efforts patiently and skillfully, but 
at last he made the mistake we had waited for so long, and sent 
his cavalry to our rear, far beyond the reach of recall. In- 
stantly our cavalry was on his only remaining road, and we fol- 
lowed quickly with our principal army, and Atlanta fell into our 



236 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

possession as the fruit of all concerted measures, backed by a 
brave and competent army. This completed the grand tasl 
which had been assigned us by our government, and your gen- 
eral again repeats his personal and official thanks to all the officers, 
and men composing this army, for the indomitable courage and 
perseverance which alone could give success. 

We have beaten our enemy on every ground he has chosen, and 
have wrested from him his own gate city, where were located his 
foundries, arsenals and workshops, deemed secure on account of 
their distance from our base, and the seemingly impregnable ob- 
stacles intervening. Nothing is impossible to an army like this, 
determined to vindicate a government which has rights wherever 
our flag has once floated, and is resolved to maintain them at any 
and all costs. 

In our campaign many, yes, very many, of our noble and gal- 
lant comrades have preceded us to our common destination, the 
grave ; but they have left the memory of deeds on which a nation 
can build a proud history. McPherson, Harker, McCook, and 
others dear to us all, are now the binding links in our minds 
that should attach more closely together the living, who have to 
complete the task which still lays before us in the dim future. I 
ask all to continue as they have so well begun, the cultivation of 
the soldierly virtues that have ennobled our own and other coun- 
tries. Courage, patience, obedience to the laws and constituted 
authorities of our government, fidelity to our trusts and good 
feeling among each other, each trying to excel the other in the 
practice of those high qualities, and it will then require no pro- 
phet to foretell that our country will in time emerge from this 
war, purified by the fires of war, and worthy of its great founder, 
" Washington." 

W. T. SHERMAN, Major General Commanding. 
Official : L. W. Dayton, Aide-de. Camp. 



CHAPTER XL 

SHERMAN'S GREAT CAMPAIGN FROM CHATTANOOGA TO 
ATLANTA. 

ADDITIONAL ACCOUNTS OF THE CAMPAIGN THE VALUE 

OF THIS CHAPTER CAMPAIGN REVIEWED BY A DIS- 
TINGUISHED GENERAL. 

I In addition to the accounts given in the three 



in 



previous chapters of this campaign, we subjoin 
another chapter, composed almost entirely of cor- 
respondence. Among this correspondence will be 
found several letters from a distinguished general, 
who took an active part in the campaign. 

This chapter we regard as of great value, aud it 
will be read with great interest, and for this reason. 
Tart of this correspondence will give to the reader 
a succinct review of the whole campaign, and from 
other parts he will have descriptions, facts and in- 
cidents which we have excluded from the previous 
chapters, and which will serve the purpose of shed- 
ding additional light on this great campaign, and at 
the same time will be a source of pleasure to the 
reader and valuable to the future historian. 



238 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The following letters from the general, above 
alluded to, will give to the reader a general review 
of the entire campaign : 

" Marching from Chattanooga on the 5th of May, 
and from Ringgold on the 7th, Sherman first 
encountered Johnston at Tunnel Hill, a strong 
position, hut which was used by him merely as an 
outpost to his still stronger one of 'Buzzard Roost.' 
This latter is a narrow gorge or pass in the Cha- 
toogata Mountains, flanked on one side by the 
precipitous sides of Rocky Face Ridge (not unlike 
the Palisades of the Hudson River), and on the 
other by the greater but less precipitous elevation 
called John's Mountain. This gorge was com- 
manded on the Dalton side by an amphitheatre of 
hills, which, as well as the tops of Rocky Face and 
John's Mountain, was crowned by batteries, lined 
with infantry, and terraced by sharpshooters. The 
railroad and wagon road wind through the gorge, 
which is absolutely the only passage through the 
mountains at this place. Taking a leaf from the 
book of his Yorktown experience, Johnston had 
skillfully flooded the entrance to the gorge by 
damminff a neiffhborinff mountain stream and 

o o o 

covering both railroad and wagon road with water 
to the depth, in some places, of eight to ten feet. 
It is scarcely possible to conceive a stronger defen- 
sive position ; and the rebels had been induced to 
believe that it was unassailable. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 239 

" Two days' reconnoissance and sharp skirmish- 
ing proved to General Sherman that an attack in 
front would cost too great a sacrifice of life, and 
that it must be turned. The means for this were 
found in a gap — called * Snake Creek Gap ' — some 
fifteen miles to the southwest. Our superiority of 
numbers, and the densely-wooded condition of the 
country, enabled the gap to be occupied by us, 
and the manoeuvre half completed before it was 
discovered by Johnston. 

" McPherson, with the Fifteenth and part of the 
Sixteenth Corps, supported by Thomas with the 
Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, and Garrard's 
division of cavalry, effected the flank movement; 
while Howard, with the Fourth Corps, Schofield 
with the Twenty-third, and Stoneman's division of 
cavalry, amused the enemy in front. 

" Johnston was, of course, thus forced to abandon 
his stronghold, and fall back to a new position, to 
save his railroad and other communications, thus 
directly menaced. 

" This new position was around the town of 
Resaca, on a range of hills, in a broken and 
densely-wooded country. 

" Guarding against another turning operation, the 
wary Johnston so cared for his flanks that we were 
forced to attack him in front. For three days we 
had some very severe fighting; but gaining a little 



240 

every day, and holding on tenaciously to all he got, 
Sherman finally possessed himself of certain hills, 
which commanded the town, railroad bridge, and 
roads in his rear. Crowning these with our bat- 
teries during the night, we were prepared at 
daylight next morning to render his roads impass- 
able ; but the enemy evacuated during the night. 
Our trophies were eight guns, two colors, several 
hundred prisoners, and a quantity of provisions 
and forage. 

" Following him up closely, we either drove or 
turned him out of every succeeding position as far 
as Marietta, seven miles north of the Chattahoo- 
chee, and about fifteen north of Atlanta; while 
we were close upon him, with the railroad and 
telegraph fully repaired behind us, and supplies of 
all sorts at hand in abundance. 

" To recapitulate : We have, in a month's time, 
with a force not very much superior to his, forced 
the enemy back nearly one hundred miles, oblig- 
ing him to abandon four different positions of 
unusual strength and proportions; have fought 
him six times ; have captured twelve guns, three 
colors, over two thousand prisoners, with consider- 
able forage, provisions, and means of transporta- 
tion ; have placed at least fifteen thousand of his 
men hors de con thai ; and have destroyed several 
important foundries, rolling mills, iron works, &c, 






AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 241 

at Rome and in the Altoona Mountains. All 
, these are substantial proofs of success. 

"Johnston now holds an apparently strong posi- 
tion immediately in front of Marietta, which looks 
, like the hardest nut we have yet had to crack. 
We are in line of battle about one mile in his 
' front, and, as soon as the rain (of which we have 
j had a week's steady outpouring) clears up, we 
shall try conclusions with him. The probabilities 
are that we shall have a hard tussle. The accounts 
I of prisoners, deserters, scouts, &c, place Johnston's 
I force at nine divisions, of about seven thousand 
j men each, with an auxiliary force of Georgia 
I militia, variously estimated at from fifteen thou- 
j sand to twenty-five thousand men. As at present 
\ arranged, Hood's Corps is on his left, Hardee's the 
right, and Polk's the centre, with the militia dis- 
posed at various points to the best advantage. 
The enemy's cavalry, said to number fifteen 
thousand, is on their flank and our rear. I pre- 
sume Johnston's entire force is not far from eighty 
thousand men." 

"At the date of my last letter (June 12, from 
Big Shanty) the enemy's line was intrenched upon 
Lost Mountain, Pine Hill, Kenesaw Mountain 
(three peaks), and upon a line of ridges connecting 
these three points, and extending eastward of the 
last named some two miles, up to and beyond an 
u 



242 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 






eminence called Brushy Hill. They also occupied, 
for about three-quarters of a mile, a line of ridge 
nearly parallel to the long diameter of Kenesaw, 
and about half a mile in front of it. You will 
perceive that their defensive line was irregular, 
concave to us, with Kenesaw as a sort of citadel or 
stronghold in a deep reentrant. The ridge in front 
of Kenesaw commences about Wallace's House, 
(on the Burnt Hickory and Marietta Koad), and 
extends thence across the railroad behind Noonday 
Creek about two miles in an east by north direc- 
tion. Lost Mountain and Kenesaw are about 
eleven hundred feet high, Pine Hill and Bushy 
Hill about four hundred feet high, and the ridges 
everywhere about one hundred and fifty to two 
hundred feet, or about the same as (and, in fact, 
not very dissimilar to) Missionary Ridge at Chat- 
tanooga. The enemy was everywhere strongly 
intrenched behind log barricades, protected by 
earth thrown against them, with a ditch, formida- 
ble abatis, and in many places a chevaux-de-frise 
of sharpened fence rails besides. Their intrench- 
ments were well protected by thick traverses, and 
at frequent intervals arranged with emplacements 
and embrasures for field-guns. The thickness of 
this parapet (which really resembled a parallel) was 
generally six to eight feet at top on the infantry-line, 
and from twelve to fifteen feet thick (at top) where 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 243 

field-guns were posted, or where fire from our ar- 
tillery was anticipated. The amount of digging 
and intrenching that Johnston's army has done, and 
is doing, is almost incredible. From the 12th to 
; the present date, our operations have resulted in 
1 wresting Lost Mountain, Pine Hill (the ridge in 
front of Kenesaw,) and Brushy Hill from the en- 
emy, and forcing back his two wings (Kenesaw 
1 Mountain operating as a sort of hinge, ) until now 
j his left is behind Olley's Creek, and his right be- 
I hind the stream which flows between the houses 
j named on the map as McAffee and Wiley Roberts, 
\ Kenesaw Mountain is now a sharp salient instead 
1 of a reentrant. Of this formidable point d' appui 
I we have not yet been able to get possession. It is a 
I rocky eminence, rather precipitous, thickly wooded, 
1 and crowned with batteries. 

"Our respective lines are about eight or nine 
miles in length, are from six hundred to seven hun- 
dred yards distant from each other, and are strongly 
intrenched. Skirmishing goes on incessantly, and 
artillery duels occur two or three times daily. The 
enemy have at different times made some dozen or 
more assaults, sometimes getting within fifty yards 
of our intrenchments, but are always repulsed, and 
generally with heavy loss to them. On the 27th of 
June, to gain certain positions, we opened a heavy 
artillery fire upon their whole line, pressed their 






244 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 



two flanks heavily, and made assaults in two places 
upon their centre. The assaults were unsuccessful ; 
but the Twenty-third Corps, upon our extreme right, 
gained some important advantages of position, of 
which we will avail ourselves anon. 

"Our losses on this day were about two thousand, 
of all ranks, Brigadier-General Harker being killed, 
and Brigadier-Generals Wagner and McCook dan- 
gerously wounded. 

" Our artillery practice, in all of our operations 
in this campaign, has been truly admirable, and has 
proved of indispensable service. We learn from 
various rebel sources how fatal its effects have been. 

"We are now, in every portion of our line, less 
than three miles distant from Marietta. The enemy, 
now almost cornered, are thoroughly at bay, and 
make most determined and obstinate resistance. 
Every inch we gain is by sheer hard fighting, and 
it is only by hard fighting that we can hold on to 
all we get.' 5 

" The strategy that gave us Kenesaw Mountain 
and Marietta on the 3d of July, that forced the 
enemy out of his next fortified line half-way be- 
tween Marietta and Chattahoochee on the 5th, and 
drove the greater portion of his forces across the 
river, and that fiDally compelled him to let go his 
hold of the entire right bank, forced him from the 
occupation of the immediate left bank, and enabled 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 245 

lis to cross and effect a sure lodgment there July 8th 
' to 12th, consisted in strong demonstrations (extend- 
ing as low down the river as below Campbellton) on 
the enemy's left, conveying the impression that it was 
\ his left flank that was to be turned, and that the 
passage of the river south of Atlanta was to be 
i forced, and then rapidly shifting masses of our 
troops from our extreme right to our extreme left, 
! turning the enemy's right flank, and seizing and 
I holding vital strategic points in that direction . 
i " Crossing the river at Posswell, and at Phillips' 
I Ferry (five miles below), our left encountered only 
1 cavalry and the new levies of militia ; while the 
! mass of the enemy's force was watching our feints 
I extending from Power's Ferry (four miles above 
the railroad-bridge) to Turner's Ferry (some two 
{ and a half miles below it). The lodgment once 
I secured on the left bank, bridges were built, and a 
i force was soon thrown over, sufficient not only to 
I hold our own there against all peradventure, but 
i to advance boldly, roll back the enemy's right, and 
] uncover Power's Ferry, which was immediately 
bridged, and gave us a third and most important 
crossing. An additional advance of the left gave 
us Pace's Ferry (only one mile above the railroad 
bridge), which was securely bridged by a double 
trestle structure, and which enabled us to cross the 



246 MAJ. GEN". W. T. SHERMAN, 

remainder of our force. The Army of the Cum- 
berland held our left, the Army of the Ohio the 
centre, and the Army of the Tennessee the right. 
Leaving Davis' division of the Fourteenth Corps 
on the right bank of the Chattahoochee to cover 
the railroad bridge and watch the approaches from 
the southwest to our rear, the whole army com- 
menced a grand right wheel, pirouetting upon the 
river, just above the railroad bridge. In this man- 
ner, with our left swinging through Cross-Keys and 
our centre through Buckhead, we very soon began 
to menace the Augusta Road, and the enemy's com- 
munications everywhere, including the city of At- 
lanta itself. Our extreme left found but little else 
than cavalry to encounter, with a few horse-artillery 
guns, and a very light force of supporting infan- 
try — thus plainly indicating that in the enemy's 
mind the delusion that his left and not his right 
was still the real point of attack, and that Atlanta 
was to be approached by us from the southwest 
instead of from the northwest, had not been dis- 
pelled. Under these circumstances, our left and 
left-centre were enabled to pass with but little 
trouble the naturally strong defensive lines of 
Nance's and Peach Tree Creek. Becoming now 
awakened to his real position, the enemy com- 
menced extending towards his right, falling gradu- 
ally back upon Atlanta so as to shorten his line, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 247 

and was thus compelled to relax his grasp of the 
Chattahoochee near Turner's Ferry. Having now 
obtained entire control of both banks of the river 
covered by our line, and for some miles both above 
and below, Davis' division was crossed to the left 
bank and joined its corps. The right wheel of our 
army was still continued, and it soon gave us posses- 
sion of Decatur and the Atlanta and Augusta Rail- 
road, passing through that town. The railroad was 
destroyed by us for many miles, and this line of com- 
munication rendered useless to the enemy. Driving 
j the enemy before us gradually, as he fitfully strug- 
I gled from one defensive intrenched position to 
| another, we at length forced him within the defences 
j of Atlanta itself, and on the 21st our troops took 
( their position in front of them. At that date the 
j Army of the Tennessee (our left) fronted the south- 
east of the city, with its centre across the Augusta 
Railroad and its left about two miles east of the 
Macon Railroad ; the Army of the Ohio covered 
the eastern front, and the Army of the Cumberland 
the northeastern, which included the railroad to 
Chattanooga, and covered our bridges and other 
communications across the Chattahoochee. On the 
afternoon of the 20th of July, while the left division 
(Ward's) of the Twentieth Corps and the right 
division (Newton's) of the Fourth Corps were ad- 
vancing to occupy a position from which the enemy 



248 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

had been driven the night previous, the enemy 
turned upon them and advanced in heavy masses 
to attack. Our men, though the greater portion 
were but slightly protected by the usual log or rail 
breastworks, and some of them were entirely in the 
open field, stood up to the work most manfully, and 
successfully repulsed, with heavy loss to the enemy, 
all of the repeated attacks made upon thenar Night 
closed upon the enemy in full retreat, and our own 
line well advanced beyond the position it had when 
first attacked. Our loss was a trifle less than two 
thousand. We buried six hundred of the enemy's 
dead, and captured four hundred prisoners and 
seven regimental flags. The enemy's entire loss, 
as since admitted by their newspapers, was six 
thousand. 

" On the 22d of July, about eleven o'clock A. M., 
the enemy availed himself of somewhat similar -cir- 
cumstances attending the Fifteenth and Seventeenth 
Corps, and attacked them furiously in flank and 
front as they were getting into position. Our men, 
attacked thus suddenly, and by overwhelming num- 
bers, were heavily pressed, and at two points re- 
coiled. An unclosed gap between the two corps, 
and another created by the disorder of a division 
of the Fifteenth Corps, gave the enemy an oppor- 
tunity to penetrate our line, get possession of some 
of our guns, and take several hundred prisoners. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 249 

The Sixteenth. Corps being promptly moved up to 
the threatened points, our best ground was speedily 
recovered, four of our guns retaken, and our lines 
securely reestablished. The enemy very persis- 
tently repeated his attacks several times (one par- 
ticular hill, the key to the position, being assaulted 
seven times), but were handsomely repulsed, and 
before sunset were driven everywhere from the 
field in confusion. Our losses were three thousand 
seven hundred and sixty men killed, wounded and 
missing, thirteen guns, and two colors. Of the 
enemy we buried, or delivered to them next morn- 
ing under flag of truce, three thousand one hun- 
dred dead, and captured two thousand two hundred 
prisoners and eighteen regimental colors. Their 
entire loss, by all ordinary rules of computation, 
could not be less than twelve thousand. Our se- 
verest loss on this day was General McPherson, 
who fell instantly killed by a volley from a portion 
of the enemy's force which had penetrated a piece 
of woods within our lines. A gallant and expe- 
rienced soldier, a refined and cultivated gentleman, 
he died universally regretted. 

" On the 28th of July the enemy assaulted another 
portion of our line, where they again encountered 
the Fifteenth Corps. As usual, they moved up in 
heavy force and made repeated assaults, but were 
again unsuccessful, and were driven back to their 



250 MAJ. GEN. W. 

intrenckments, leaving the ground behind them 
strewed with their dead and wounded. Our losses 
were eight hundred and fifty-six killed, wounded 
and missing. We buried over six hundred of the 
enemy's dead, and captured four regimental colors, 
and have good reason to put their entire loss at five 
thousand. Since we crossed the Chattahoochee 
the enemy must have lost twenty thousand. While 
these events were transpiring, several cavalry 
expeditions were sent out for the destruction of 
railroads, supplies, &c, &c. Major General Rous- 
seau broke the railroad for thirty miles between 
West Point and Montgomery, captured two hun- 
dred prisoners and five hundred horses and 
mules, and returned with a loss of less than 
thirty men. Brigadier General Garrard broke the 
Atlanta and Augusta Railroad for fifteen miles 
near Covington, burned two important railroad 
bridges, two locomotives and trains of loaded cars, 
two thousand bales of cotton, and several depots, 
and captured one hundred and fifty prisoners and 
three hundred horses and mules. His loss was 
only two men. Brigadier General McCook, start- 
ing from below Campbellton, crossed the Chatta- 
hoochee, broke several miles of the Atlanta and 
West Point and Atlanta and Macon Railroads, 
burned six hundred loaded wagons of the enemy's 
supply and reserve train, and killed a large 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 251 

number (said to be eight hundred) of mules. This 
expedition captured several hundred prisoners, 
including Brigadier General Ross, but, becoming 
surrounded by an overwhelming force of the ene- 
my, General McCook was obliged to cut his way 
through, abandoning all his prisoners, and losing 
live hundred men. Major General Stoneman is 
still out on another important and hazardous 
expedition, but has not yet been heard from. 

" Meanwhile, the enemy obstinately defend At- 
lanta, which we find to be entirely surrounded by 
strong earthworks, armed with a numerous and 
powerful artillery, and garrisoned by a force quite 
strong enough to render the question of assault one 
to be not lightly considered. The fate of the city 
is nevertheless as certain as any thing in war can 
be; and it must soon fall into our hands. 

" During the whole of this summer's campaign 
in Northern Georgia the services of the artillery 
have been conspicuous. The Western soldier seems 
to be peculiarly adapted for this special service : 
brave, self-reliant, and a good marksman, he stands 
steadily to his gun in the most critical times, and 
delivers his lire coolly and with good effect. The 
three years' experience which this Western volun- 
teer artillery has had, has given its officers and men 
a vast store of valuable practical knowledge. It is 
no unusual thing for a field-battery to take up its 



252 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

position, intrench itself securely, and open an effec- 
tive fire, in the shortest possible time, unaided o^ 
the advice of superior officers or the assistance of 
engineer or other troops. We have abundance of 
rebel testimony in proof of the accuracy and vigor 
of our artillery lire. 

" I write in great haste — under a broiling sun — 
with only the shelter of a tent-fly." 

" Artillery Head-Quarters, ^| 

" Military Division of the Mississippi, V 

"Atlanta, September 10, 1864. J 

" I think my last letter to you closed with some 
accounts of the cavalry raids of Generals McCook 
and Stoneman, the uncaptured portions of whose 
forces had about that time just returned to our lines. 
The object of these two expeditions — one issuing 
from our right flank, the other from our left — was 
the destruction of a portion of the railroad to Ma- 
con, and the consequent interruption, if not the 
complete severance, of the enemy's sole remaining 
line of communication and supply. 

" Stoneman, after completing his portion of the 
work, was granted permission by General Sherman 
(the request for this indulgence having been 
urgently pressed by General Stoneman) to attempt 
the liberation of our officers imprisoned at Macon, 
and of our thirty thousand enlisted men at 
Anclersonville. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 253 

"Although Stoneman failed altogether iu the 
latter portion of his programme, hoth raids were 
almost as successful as cavalry raids usually are, i. e., 
much damage was inflicted upon the enemy, with 
considerable loss to ourselves; the enemy, as usual, 
repairing his damage within the week or ten days 
following. 

" Failing to dislodge Hood from Atlanta in this 
way, General Sherman next resorted to a further 
extension of his right, hoping to outflank him in that 
direction. The Twenty-third Corps, supported by 
the Fourteenth, was, on the 6th of August, moved 
out to the south of Utay Creek. The enemy had 
probably anticipated a movement of this sort, for 
the Twenty-third Corps, on approaching the ene- 
my's supposed flank, suddenly developed a strongly 
intrenched line, with the customary ' abatis ' and 
' head-log ' stretching away southward, in the direc- 
tion of East Point, as far as the eye could reach. 
Hascall's division of the Twenty-third Corps was 
moved up to try its strength, the Fourteenth Corps 
on its left, meantime, making a feigned assault to 
prevent the accumulation of too large a force in 
front of Hascall. 

" The natural difficulties of the ground, and the 
impenetrable nature of the artificial obstructions, 
prevented Hascall's success; and, with a loss of about 
two hundred men, compelled him to return to his 
lines. 

V 



254 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 






" Next day a more determined assault was made, 
the enemy's line carried, and our dead and wound- 
ed of the previous clay recovered. This line was 
dow discovered to be an exterior one, run out in a 
southwesterly direction for nearly a mile at an ob- 
tuse angle to his main line, and was held by a sin- 
gle division. The possession of this exterior work 
enabled General Sherman to close at all points 
directly upon the enemy's main line of defense. 
This line was now plainly developed to be a series 
of redoubts of great thickness of parapet and good 
command, connected throughout by a continuous 
infantry parapet, covered by abatis, chevaux-de-frise, 
and entanglements of various other kinds; — iliQ 
whole completely surrounding Atlanta, and thence 
extending the ridge all the way to East Point (six 
miles), covering the track jointly between two 
points by the Atlanta and Macon and the Atlanta 
and West Point Railroads. 

" Under such circumstances, it is plain that Hood, 
with the advantage of interior lines, and acting 
strictly on the defensive behind his strong intrench- 
ments, could, with an inferior force, successfully 
hold his position. 

" The fertile genius of Sherman was fully equal 
to the occasion. A careful survey and considera- 
tion of the situation satisfied him that Hood's lines 
could not be assaulted, even successfully, without a 






AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 265 

sacrifice of life to his own troops not justified by 
the circumstances. He therefore determined to 
bring strategy to his aid. His conceptions here 
were characterized by his usual boldness, prompt- 
ness and independence. He determined to with- 
draw his whole army from the immediate front of 
Atlanta, and, leaving one corps at the Chattahoo- 
chee River to guard his tete-de-pont, covering the 
railroad bridge, and the pontoon and trestle bridges 
within the space of a mile north and south of it, to 
throw the remainder of his troops to the southwest 
and south of the city, across the Macon Railroad — 
the West Point Railroad to be thoroughly destroyed 
en route. The plan was submitted to the lieuten- 
ant general, who, though deeming it hazardous, 
gave it his full approval, and preparations were 
accordingly at once made for putting it into 
execution. 

" Meantime, to divert the enemy's attention from 
our real purposes, but principally to prevent that 
accumulation of supplies within the city which it 
was well understood was being made, General Bar- 
ry, chief of artillery, was authorized to place in cer- 
tain favorable positions some rifled siege-guns, and 
to keep up from them a continuous fire day and 
night until the preparations for the main move- 
ment were completed. This was done, and for 
twelve days the constant dropping of 4J-inch shells 



256 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

and case-shot materially interfered with the run- 
ning of railroad trains and the accumulation of 
supplies, and was the immediate cause, by the oc- 
casioning of several destructive conflagrations, of 
the destruction of much of the enemy's public pro- 
perty. General Kilpatrick, during the same inter- 
val, was instructed to make a raid across the 
enemy's communications, which resulted in the 
temporary breakage of some miles of railroad, the 
dispersion of a brigade of the enemy's cavalry, 
and the capture of one hundred prisoners, three 
flags, and one piece of artillery. On the 25th of 
August, all the necessary preparations having been 
completed, the grand movement was appointed to 
commence. 

" Our line at that time was held as follows : The 
Fourth Corps, with its left resting upon the Georgia 
Railroad, formed our extreme left; next, on the 
right, was the Twentieth Corps, its right resting on 
Proctor's Creek; the Sixteenth, Seventeenth and 
Fifteenth Corps, forming the Army of the Tennes- 
see, came next ; then the Fourteenth Corps ; and, 
finally, the Twenty-third Corps, which formed our 
extreme right. Garrard's cavalry division covered 
our left flank, and Kilpatrick's our right. During 
the night of the 25th of August, the Fourth Corps 
drew out from its intrenchments, and, moving by 
the rear of the Twentieth Corps, crossed Proctor's 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 257 

Creek, and was massed behind the left centre of 
the Army of the Tennessee ; the Twentieth Corps 
was also withdrawn from its intrenchments, and 
took position at the railroad bridge across the Chat- 
tahoochee; Garrard's cavalry fell back behind 
Peach Tree Creek. By daylight of the 26th, this 
portion of the movement was completed, and the 
north and east sides of Atlanta uncovered. 

" The enemy, quite taken by surprise, were evi- 
dently at a loss to understand the movement, and 
seemed to believe that we had commenced to re- 
treat. During the next night the Fourth Corps 
pushed on in the direction of 'Reel Oak/ on the 
Atlanta and West Point Railroad, and the Army of 
the Tennessee and the Fourteenth Corps were 
withdrawn from their intrenchments, and moved, 
the former in the direction of 'Fairburn,' the latter 
in that of < Red Oak.' The whole front of Atlanta 
was now uncovered, except that portion occupied 
by the Twenty-third Corps, which alone remained 
in its intrenchments. The enemy, still bewildered 
and apparently uncertain of our intentions, sent out 
a skirmish line to reconnoitre. It moved but little 
beyond our abandoned works, except in the direc- 
tion of the railroad bridge, where it found us in 
force and strongly intrenched. During the next 
day the Twenty-third Corps withdrew from its in- 
trenchments, and formed the left of our new line, 



258 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

which now advanced, reached and crossed the 
West Point Railroad, and intrenched for the night, 
facing east and north. The next day was spent in 
destroying the West Point Railroad, which was 
most effectually done from Red Oak to Fairburn, 
and some miles beyond, every tie being burned, 
and every rail twisted and warped. The enemy 
seemed now to be awakened to a suspicion that an 
extensive infantry raid upon the Macon Railroad 
was in process of execution, and probably believed 
that it was to be effected by perhaps the half, or 
even a smaller portion, of our whole force. He was 
evidently innocent of the belief that our whole 
army was moving upon his communications. Hood 
sent Hardee's corps, followed by S. D. Lee's, to 
Jonesboro', remaining in Atlanta with Stewart's 
corps and the militia. On the 80th of August 
Sherman put his army again in motion, in a south- 
easterly direction, aiming to strike the Macon Rail- 
road from 'Rough and Ready' to Jonesboro'. The 
Army of the Tennessee, marching from Fairburn, 
crossed Flint River in the latter part of the day, 
driving the enemy's cavalry before it, and had ap- 
proached to within half a mile of Jonesboro', when 
it encountered Hardee, and Lee's corps strongly in- 
trenched in a favorable position, and where night 
overtook it. The remainder of the army, en echelon 
towards the left, did not succeed in getting up to 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 259 

the railroad. Kilpatrick's cavalry covered our right 
front and flank, and Garrard's our left flank and 
rear. About noon on the next clay (August 31) 
Hardee, acting probably under the belief that but 
a small portion of our infantry was opposed to him, 
sallied from his works around Jonesboro', and 
assaulted the lines of the Fifteenth and Sixteenth 
Corps. The assault was general, but it lacked that 
enthusiasm and dash which ordinarily accompany 
the headlong attack of rebel troops, and it was re- 
pulsed by our men with little difliculty. The ene- 
my fell back to his lines after two more attempts 
to assault, leaving his dead and many of his 
wounded in our hands. His loss in killed, 
wounded and prisoners was more than two thous- 
and, while ours was not as many hundreds. The 
Fourth, Fourteenth and Twenty-third Corps reach- 
ed the railroad during the course of the day, and 
thoroughly destroyed it, from ' Rough and Ready ' 
to within two miles of Jonesboro'. During the 
afternoon of the next day, the Fourteenth Corps 
came up and formed on the left of the Army of 
the Tennessee. The Fourth and Twenty-third be- 
ing still at the rear, with but slight prospect of 
their getting up before dark to strike the enemy in 
rear, General Sherman ordered the Fourteenth 
Corps to move forward to the assault without delay. 
Its position enabled it to take the rebel line 



260 MA J. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

flank. Davis, forming his troops with the divisions 
of Baird and Morgan in line, and the division of 
Carlin in support, moved handsomely up, crossed 
several hundred yards of open field under a heavy 
fire, and came down with a run upon the enemy, 
whose works our men mounted with a ringing 
cheer, and rolled up his whole right flank like a 
scroll. Unfortunately, our remaining troops did 
not get up in season, and darkness setting in, Har- 
dee was enabled to get away. But for this his 
whole corps would have been swept off like chaff'. 
As it was, however, Davis captured two four-gun 
batteries, and Brigadier General Gowan and his 
entire brigade of Cleb urn's division, the crack 
fighting division of Hood's army. 

" About midnight, heavy explosions and the bril- 
liant illumination of burning supplies in the direc- 
tion of Atlanta, twenty miles in our rear, gave us 
to understand that Hood had at last comprehended 
his situation and danger, and that, to save his army 
from being cut in two and crushed in detail, he had 
evacuated his stronghold, and Atlanta was ours. 

"At daylight next morning (September 2), it was 
discovered that Hardee had fallen back seven miles, 
to ' Lovejoy's Station,' where good fortune had 
given him a naturally strong position, which he 
speedily intrenched, and where Hood effected the 
junction of his disunited forces the same day. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 261 

"Atlanta captured, our task was done, and. as 
General Sherman announced in his orders of the 
day, was 'well done.' After destroying the Macon 
Railroad for six miles toward Lovejoy's, the differ- 
ent corps at once took up their positions covering 
their hard won acquisition. Here they are now 
engaged resting from their continuous labor of four 
months, and reorganizing and refitting for a new 
campaign, and, let us hope, new conquests. 

" It would follow too soon upon the momentous 
events of this glorious summer campaign in Georgia, 
to discuss it critically, even with the brevity neces- 
sary for a magazine article; but those whose good 
fortune it has been to participate in it, however 
humbly, feel an honest pride in believing that its 
story will hold as high a place in history as that of 
any other in the present war." 



CHAPTER XII. 

SHERMAN AND THE OCCUPATION OF ATLANTA. 

SHERMAN A MILITARY GENIUS — OPINIONS OP HIS CAM- 
PAIGN THE LONDON TIMES AND LONDON STAR MEAS- 
URES FOR HOLDING ATLANTA CITIZENS ORDERED FROM 

ATLANTA SHERMAN AND HOOD THEIR CORRESPON- 
DENCE AN ATLANTA EXILE PERMANENT OCCUPA- 
TION INTENDED OPERATIONS OF FORREST AND OTH- 
ERS — HOOD'S NORTHERN MOVEMENT ATTACK AND 

REPULSE AT ALTOONA THE PURSUIT HOOD CROSSES 

THE TENNESSEE SHERMAN'S PLANS BATTLES OF 

FRANKLIN AND NASHVILLE SHERMAN RETURNS TO 

-ATLANTA A FACETIOUS LETTER. 

The operations of General Sherman's army, which 
resulted in the capture of Atlanta, and which have 
been partially recorded in the three previous chap- 
ters, make some of the most wonderful pages in the 
history of war. The army endured long marches, 
great hardships and bloody battles, seemingly 
without a murmur of complaint. The artifices to 
mislead the enemy were so successful, Sherman's 
marches were so well guarded, his army so well fed, 
his battles so well fought and won, that both officers 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 263 

and soldiers deserve the highest credit and praise, 
and Sherman has proved himself a military genius. 

The southern people were made to believe that 
so far as Johnston and Hood were concerned, they 
had succeeded in " drawing Sherman on ; " that 
they had accomplished the very thing they had in- 
tended from the start, and now that they had him 
"just where they wished," they would break up 
his long line of communications, compel him to 
evacuate Atlanta and then fall upon him and des- 
troy his army. The people of the North, and the 
army, regarded the campaign as one of the greatest, 
most successful and decisive of the war. Even 
foreign nations and foreign papers — some of which 
were not remarkably friendly to our government or 
army, and which have from the beginning of the 
war, predicted the downfall of the great republic — 
were constrained to admit that Sherman's campaign 
was a great success. 

The London Times, a paper of more influence 
than any other in England, and more hostile to our 
government than any other paper published beyond 
the ocean, thus speaks of this wonderful campaign : 

" Nobody imagined that a Northern army could 
penetrate so far into the South and maintain itself 
so securely as Sherman's army has now done for 
months together. Neither the distance from the 



264 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

base of his operations, nor the difficulties of ob- 
taining supplies, nor any of the numerous embar- 
rassments incidental to a position in a hostile 
country, have impeded his proceedings. He can 
hold his own in the heart of Georgia and encounter 
the Confederates on equal terms. He may yet be 
repulsed, but he has shown that there is nothing 
impracticable in an expedition which would have 
been thought desperate at an earlier period of the 
war. The capture of Atlanta may fairly be re- 
garded as crowning with success the campaign of 
the Northwestern Army of the Union. The results 
of the achievements are still to be seen ; nor is it, 
indeed, yet certain that General Sherman will be 
able to retain his prize, but it is a prize nevertheless, 
for it represents the object which the Federal com- 
mander proposed to himself from the beginning of 
his expedition. Never, since the commencement 
of the war, has a Federal force plunged so intrep- 
idly into Confederate territory. The Confederates 
have lost an important position and been un- 
successful in a campaign. They have not, however, 
lost an army, nor any considerable quantity of mu- 
nitions or stores. The Federals have taken a turn 
in a State hitherto inaccessible to their armies, and 
can boast of an army quartered in Georgia. 

" One of the great objects of the campaign in 
Georgia was the destruction of the Confederate 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 265 

army, and that has not been attained. General 
Hood remains in command of a force which, though 
it is not a match for Sherman's army, is nevertheless 
strong, well organized and safe." 

Such are the forced admissions of the London 
Times, a paper that has constantly wielded a large 
influence in favor of the enemies of the Republic. 
Let not the reader, however, imagine that our cause 
and our great generals had not a more candid, un- 
prejudiced and sensible advocate among the people 
of England, than the London Times. 

We take pleasure in here recording the just and 

', truthful remarks of the London Star, a paper not un- 

1 friendly to our country and her brave and successful 

I armies : 

" Sherman's army has occupied Atlanta. The 

> latter is one of those victories which form the 
turning points of great wars. It has been the ob- 
ject of the campaign of an army of probably 80,000 
men, under one of the best generals of the North, 
who, with rare pertinacity and caution has advanced, 
step by step into the enemy's country, and who has 
won by assaults, now by strategy, beaten back the 
Southern army until at length the city at which he 
aimed has fallen into his grasp. The steady ad- 
vance of the North on those Western fields of con- 
flict lias been as uniform as their failures in Eastern 



w 



266 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Virginia — before the existing campaign — have 
been conspicuous. 

" From Cairo to Atlanta constitutes a record of 
the most brilliant success which any army could 
hope to achieve. That obstacles and defeats have 
been encountered only makes the persistence, which 
has at length obtained victory, shine out with 
greater lustre. Kentucky was cleared of the great 
rebel armies in 1862 ; Tennessee was fought for and 
won in 1863, and the summer campaign of 1864, 
more arduous than either of the preceding, has 
rolled back the Confederates from the North of 
Georgia and placed Atlanta, the Birmingham of 
the "West, at the feet of the conqueror. 

" The success of Sherman may be measured by 
the hazardous nature of his campaign and the 
physical difficulties which he had to surmount, as 
well as by the strength of the army opposed to him 
and the value of his acquisitions. So bold was 
his advance, and so eminently perilous, that the 
Southern people not only refused to believe in the 
possibility of its success, but chuckled complacently 
at what they believed to be the profound policy of 
Johnston in retreating to draw Sherman still further 
from his base. Many in this country whose zeal 
for the South constantly leads them into blunders, 
eagerly swallowed this version of an advance which 
all sensible writers treated as a most threatening 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 267 

invasion, and even after Sherman had shown, by 
repeated battles and continued advances that he 
was not an assailant to be despised, these unfortu- 
nate prophets have never ceased to consign him 
weekly, to destruction. 

" No doubt they will now inform us that Hood 
has given up Atlanta as a strategic measure for the 
purpose of drawing Sherman on to Macon, at which 
point a most dreadful fate awaits him. Hood, how- 
ever, is not a scientific but a fighting general, and 
he and Sherman had another fierce conflict at the 
Macon Road, in which the Confederates were se- 
verely handled. This is another proof of the 
hopeless inferiority of the Confederate to that of 
the Union army." 

We must now resume the narrative. As soon 
as Sherman had occupied Atlanta, he began to 
strengthen and protect his communications with 
Chattanooga and the North ; well knowing that the 
enemy would attempt to destroy them and thus 
compel the evacuation of Atlanta. He also some- 
what strengthened the fortifications of Atlanta, and 
that his plans might be kept from the enemy, he 
issued an order compelling all citizens to leave the 
place, giving them the choice of going South or 
North. This was denounced by the enemy and 
their friends in the North and in England, as 
an unheard of cruelty. In this order, the wisdom 



268 

of which is not now doubted, General Sherman 
said : " Citizens are requested to leave Atlanta and 
proceed either North or South. The government 
will furnish transportation South as far as Bough 
and Ready; North as far as Chattanooga. All 
citizens may take their movable property with 
them. Transportation will be furnished for all 
movables. Negroes who wish to do so may go 
with their masters, other male negroes will be put 
in government employ, and the women and children 
sent outside the lines." 

That this order might be carried out, an agree- 
ment was entered into between Sherman and Hood 
for a truce to last ten days. 

The correspondence that follows will give full 
information on this subject, and will go very far to 
justify the course of Genera] Sherman : 

THE DEPOPULATION OF ATLANTA— CORRESPONDENCE OF 
GENERAL SHERMAN. 

reply to general hood. 

Headquarters Military Division of the "} 

Mississippi, and in the Field, V 

Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 10, 1864. J 

General J. B. Hood, commanding Army of the 

Tennessee, Confederate Army : 

General : — I have the honor to acknowledge the 
ieceipt of your letter of this date at the hands of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 269 

Messrs. Ball and Crew, consenting to the arrange- 
ments I had proposed to facilitate the removal 
South, of the people of Atlanta who prefer to go 
in that direction. I enclose you a copy of my 
orders, which will, I am satisfied, accomplish my 
purpose perfectly. You style the measures pro- 
posed " unprecedented," and appeal to the dark 
history of war for a parallel as an act of " studied 
and ungenerous cruelty." It is not unprecedented, 
for General Johnston himself very wisely and 
properly removed the families all the way from 
Dalton down, and I see no reason why Atlanta 
should be excepted. IsTor is it necessary to appeal 
to the dark history of war when recent and modern 
examples are so handy. You yourself burned 
dwelling houses along your parapet, and I have 
seen to-day, fifty houses that you have rendered 
uninhabitable because they stood in the way of 
your forts and men. You defended Atlanta on a 
line so close to the town that every cannon shot 
and many musket shots from our line of invest- 
ments, that overshot their mark, went into the 
habitations of women and children. General 
Hardee did the same at Jonesboro', and General 
Johnston did the same last summer at Jackson, 
Miss. I have not accused you of heartless cruelty, 
but merely instance these cases of very recent 
occurrence, and could go on and enumerate hun- 
dreds of others, and challenge any fair man to 



270 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

judge which, of us has the heart of pity for the 
families of a " brave people." I say it is kindness 
to these families of Atlanta to remove them now at 
once from scenes that women and children should 
not be exposed to ; and the brave people should, 
scorn to commit their wives and children to the 
rude barbarians who thus, as you say, violate the 
laws of war, as illustrated in the pages of its dark 
history. In the name of common sense, I ask you 
not to appeal to a just God in such a sacrilegious 
manner, — you, who in the midst of peace and 
prosperity, have plunged a nation into civil war, 
" dark and cruel war," who dared and badgered us 
to battle, insulted our flag, seized our arsenals and 
forts that were left in the honorable custody of a 
peaceful ordnance sergeant, seized and made pris- 
oners of war the very garrisons sent to protect your 
people against Negroes and Indians, long before any 
overt act was committed by the (to you) hateful 
Lincoln Government, tried to force Kentucky and 
Missouri into the rebellion in spite of themselves, 
falsified the vote of Louisiana, turned loose your 
privateers to plunder unarmed ships, expelled 
Union families by the thousand, burned their 
houses, and declared by act of your Congress the 
confiscation of all debts due Northern men for 
goods had and received. Talk thus to the marines, 
but not to me, who have seen these things, and who 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 271 

will this day make as much sacrifice for the peace 
and honor of the South as the best born Southerner 
among you. If we must be enemies, let us be 
men, and fight it out as we propose to-day, and not 
deal in such hypocritical appeals to God and hu- 
manity. God will judge us in due time, and he 
will pronounce whether it be more humane to fight 
with a town full of women and the families of a 
" brave people " at our back, or to remove them in 
time to places of safety among their own friends 
and people. 
I am, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 
(Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major- General Commanding. 
Official copy : 

Signed, L. M. Dayton, A. D. C- 

FROM THE AUTHORITIES OF ATLANTA. 

Atlanta, Ga., September 11, 1864. 
Major General W. T. Sherman: 

Sir — The undersigned, mayor and two members 
of council for the city of Atlanta, for the time 
being the only legal organ of the people of the 
said city to express their wants and wishes, ask 
leave most earnestly, but respectfully, to petition 
you to reconsider the order requiring them to 
leave Atlanta. At first view, it struck us that the 
measure would involve extraordinary hardship and 



272 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

loss ; but since we have seen the practical execu- 
tion of it, so far as it has progressed, and the indi- 
vidual condition of many of the people, and heard 
the statements as to the inconveniences, loss and 
suffering attending it, we are satisfied that the 
amount of it will involve in the aggregate 
consequences appalling and heart-rending. 

Many poor women are in the advanced Hate of 
pregnancy; others having young children, whose 
husbands, for the greater part, are either in the 
army, prisoners, or dead. Some say: " I have such 
a one sick in my house ; who will wait on them 
when I am gone ? " Others say : " What are we to 
do? we have no houses to go to, and no means to 
buy, build or rent any; no parents, relatives or 
friends to go to." Another says : " I will try and 
take this or that article of property ; but such and 
such things I must leave behind, though I need 
them much." We reply to them : " General Sher- 
man will carry your property to Rough and Ready, 
and then General Hood will take it thence on." 
And they will reply to that : " But I want to leave 
the railroad at such a place, and cannot get con- 
veyance from thence on." 

We only refer to a few facts to illustrate in part 
how this measure will operate in practice. As you 
advanced, the people north of us fell back, and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 273 

before your arrival here a large portion of the peo- 
ple here had retired South ; so that the country 
south of this is already crowded, and without suffi- 
cient houses to accommodate the people, and we 
are informed that many are now staying in churches 
and other out-buildings. This being so, how is it 
possible for the people still here (mostly women and 
children) to find shelter, and how can they live 
through the winter in the woods — no shelter or 
subsistence — in the midst of strangers, who know 
them not, and without the power to assist them 
much, if they were willing to do so. 

This is but a feeble picture of the consequences 
of this measure. You know the woe, the horror 
and the suffering cannot be described by words. 
Imagination can only conceive of it ; and we ask 
you to take these things into consideration. We 
know your mind and time are continually occupied 
with the duties of your command, which almost 
deters us from asking your attention to the matter; 
but thought it might be that you had not consid- 
ered the subject in all of its awful consequences, 
and that, on reflection, you, we hope, would not 
make this people an exception to all mankind ; for 
we know of no such instance ever having occurred 
— surely not in the United States. And what has 
this helpless people done, that they should be driven 
from their homes, to wander as strangers, outcasts 
and exiles, and to subsist on charity? 



274 

"We do not know as yet the number of people 
still here. Of those who are here, a respectable 
number, if allowed to remain at home, could sub- 
sist for several months without assistance ; and a 
respectable number for a much longer time, and 
who might not need assistance at any time. 

In conclusion, we most earnestly and solemnly 
petition you to reconsider this order, or modify it, 
and suffer this unfortunate people to remain at 
home and enjoy what little means they have. 
Respectfully submitted, 

JAMES M. CALHOUN, Mayor. 

f.c:wZl7 y , } Councilmm ' 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S REPLY. 



Head-Quarters Military Division oe the ] 

Mississippi, and in the Field, V 

Atlanta, Ga., Sept. 12, 1864. J 

James M. Calhoun, Mayor ; E. E. Bawson and S. 
C. Wells, representing City Council of Atlanta : 
Gentlemen — I have your letter of the 11th, in 
the nature of a petition to revoke my orders remov- 
ing all the inhabitants from Atlanta. I have read 
it carefully, and give full credit to your statements 
of the distress that will be occasioned by it, and 
yet shall not revoke my order, simply because my 
orders are not designed to meet the humanities of 
the case, but to prepare for the future struggles, in 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 275 

which millions, yes, hundreds of millions of good 
people outside of Atlanta have a deep interest. We 
must have Peace, not only in Atlanta, but in 
America. To secure this, we must stop the war 
that now desolates our once happy and favored 
country. To stop war, we must defeat the rebel 
armies that are arrayed against the laws and Con- 
stitution which all must respect and obey. To de- 
feat these armies, we must prepare the way to 
reach them in their recesses, provided with the 
arms and instruments which enable us to accomplish 
our purpose. 

Now, I know the vindictive nature of our enemy, 
and that we may have many years of military ope- 
rations from this quarter, and therefore deem it 
wise and prudent to prepare in time. The use of 
Atlanta for warlike purposes is inconsistent with 
its character as a home for families. There will be 
no manufactures, commerce or agriculture here for 
the maintenance of families, and sooner or later 
want will compel the inhabitants to go. Why not 
go now, when all the arrangements are completed 
for the transfer, instead of waiting till the plunging 
shot of contending armies will renew the scene of 
the past month? Of course, I do not apprehend 
any such thing at this moment; but you do not 
suppose that this army will be here till the war is 
over. I cannot discuss this subject with you fairly, 



276 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

because I cannot impart to. you what I propose to 
do ; but I assert that my military plans make it 
necessary for the inhabitants to go away, and I can 
only renew my offer of services to make their ex- 
odus in any direction as easy and comfortable as 
possible. You cannot qualify war in harsher terms 
than I will. "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine 
it ; and those who brought war on our country de- 
serve all the curses and maledictions a people can 
pour out. I know I had no hand in making this 
war, and I know I will make more sacrifices to-day 
than any of you to secure peace. But you cannot 
have peace and a division of our country. If the 
United States submits to a division now, it will not 
stop, but will go on till we reap the fate of Mexico, 
which is eternal war. The United States does and 
must assert its authority wherever it has power; if 
it relaxes one bit to pressure, it is gone, and I know 
that such is not the national feeling. This feeling 
assumes various shapes, but always comes back to 
that of Union. Once admit the Union, once more 
acknowledge the authority of the National Govern- 
ment, and instead of devoting your houses and 
streets and roads to the dread uses of war, I and 
this army become at once your protectors and sup- 
porters, shielding you from danger, let it come 
from what quarter it may. I know that a few indi- 
viduals cannot resist a torrent of error and passion, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 277 

such as has swept the South into rebellion ; but 
you can point out, so that we may know those who 
desire a government, and those who insist upon 
war and its desolation. 

You might as well appeal against the thunder- 
storm as against these terrible hardships of war. 
They are inevitable ; and the only way the people 
of Atlanta can hope once more to live in peace and 
quiet at home, is to stop this war — which can alone 
be done by admitting that it began in error, and is 
perpetuated in pride. We don't want your negroes, 
or your horses, or your houses, or your land, or 
anything you have ; but we do want and will have 
a just obedience to the laws of the United States. 
That we will have; and if it involves the destruc- 
tion of your improvements, we cannot help it. 
You have heretofore read public sentiment in your 
newspapers that live by falsehood and excitement, 
and the quicker you seek for truth in other quarters, 
the better for you. 

I repeat then, that by the original compact of 
government, the United States had certain rights in 
Georgia, which have never been relinquished, and 
never will be ; that the South began war by seizing 
forts, arsenals, mints, custom houses, &c, long be- 
fore Mr. Lincoln was installed, and before the South 
had one jot or tittle of provocation. I myself, have 
seen in Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee and part of 
x 



278 

Mississippi, hundreds and thousands of women and 
children fleeing from your armies and desperadoes, 
hungry and with bleeding feet. In Memphis, Vicks- 
burgh and Mississippi, we fed thousands upon thou- 
sands of the families of rebel soldiers left on our 
hands, and whom we could not see starve. Now that 
war comes home to you, you feel very differently; 
you deprecate its horrors, but did not feel them 
when you sent car loads of soldiers and ammuni- 
tion, and moulded shell and shot, to carry war into 
Kentucky and Tennessee, and desolate the homes 
of hundreds and thousands of good people, who 
only asked to live in peace at their old homes, and 
under the government of their inheritance. But 
these comparisons are idle. I want peace, and be- 
lieve it can only be reached through Union and 
war, and I will ever conduct war purely with a view 
to perfect and early success. 

But, my dear sirs, when that peace does come, 
you may call on me for anything. Then will I 
share with you the last cracker, and watch with 
you to shield your homes and families against 
danger from every quarter. Now you must go and 
take with you the old and feeble ; feed and nurse 
them, and build for them in more quiet places 
proper habitations, to shield them against the 
weather, until the mad passions of men cool down, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 279 

and allow Union and Peace once more to settle 
on your old homes at Atlanta. 

Yours in haste, 

W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General 

A FALSEHOOD COERECTED. 

Atlanta, September 24, 1864. 
To the Louisville Agent of the New York Asso- 
ciated Press : — ' 

Your press dispatches of the 21st embrace one 
from Macon of the 14th, announcing the arrival of 
the first train of refugees from Atlanta, with this 
addition, " that they were robbed of everything be- 
fore being sent into the rebel lines." Of course, 
that is false ; and it is idle to correct it so far as the 
rebels are concerned, for they purposed it as a 
falsehood, to create a mischievous public opinion. 
The truth is, that during the truce, 446 families 
were moved south, making 705 adults, 860 children 
and 479 servants, with 1,651 pounds of furniture 
and household goods on the average for each 
family, of which we have a perfect recollection by 
name and articles. At the end of the truce, 
Colonel Warner of my staff, who had general su- 
pervision of the business, received from Major 
Clan, of General Hood's staff, the following letter : 



280 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

"Bough and Ready, Sept. 21, 1864. 
"Colonel: — Our official communication being 
about to close, you will permit me to bear testi- 
mony to the uniform courtesy you have shown on 
all occasions to me and my people, and the prompt- 
ness with which you have corrected all irregu- 
larities arising in our intercourse. Hoping at some 
future time to be able to reciprocate your court- 
eousness, and in many instances your positive 
kindness, I am with respect, your obedient servant, 

"U. T. CLAN, 

"Major and A. A. G., General Hood's Staff. 

" Lieutenant Colonel Willard Warner, of Gen- 
eral Sherman's Staff." 

I would not notice this, but I know the people of 
the North, liable to be misled by a falsehood calcu- 
lated for special purposes, and by a desperate 
enemy, will be relieved by this assurance, that not 
only care, but real kindness has been extended to 
families who lost their homes by the act of their 
male protectors. 

(Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major- General Commanding. 

The following letter from one of the exiles of 
Atlanta, will be read with interest. How much of 
it may be regarded as apocryphal, will be left to the 
judgment of the reader : 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 281 

[From the Eatonton Countryman.] 

Eatonton, Ga., November 4, 1864. 
J. A. Turner, Esq. — 

Dear Sir : At your request, I have written 
down all the points of interest furnished me by 
my friend, connected with her leaving Atlanta, &c. 
I have written it hastily, and leave it for you to 
condense as you may deem proper. Hoping its 
publication may prove of some interest to your 
readers, I proceed as follows : 

I had the pleasure of meeting with a very intel- 
ligent lady, a few days since, one of the exiles from 
Atlanta under the late order of General Sherman 
banishing the citizens from that place, who fur- 
nished me with some facts which may prove of in- 
terest to your readers. As soon as the Yankees 
obtained possession of the city, the officers began 
to hunt up comfortable quarters, and the lady of 
whom I speak found herself under the necessity of 
taking three of them as boarders, or of submitting 
to the confiscation of her house to the purpose of 
sheltering our foe. Those who boarded with Mrs. 

proved to be very gentlemanly fellows, and 

rendered her service in protecting her from the in- 
trusion of the private soldiers, besides aiding her 
in disposing of her cows and hogs when she was 
compelled to leave. A neighbor of hers, whose 
husband had rendered himself obnoxious to the 



282 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHEKMAN, 

Yankees by his services to the South, was ordered 
by a Yankee general to vacate her premises in two 
hours, and a guard was stationed to prevent her 
from moving her effects. 

Referring to this evacuation of the trenches 
around the city, he asked the lady if they did not 
all think he was retreating, and when she replied 
that some did think so, he laughed heartily at the 
idea, and remarked : "I played Hood a real Yan- 
kee trick that time, didn't I ? He thought I was 
running away, but he soon had to pull up stakes 
and run himself." (I wonder whose turn it is to 
laugh now ! ) 

The lady from whom these facts were obtained 
says that Sherman had a vast number of applica- 
tions from ladies, and others, in reference to their 
moving, and that, so far as she could learn, he was 
patient, gentlemanly and obliging, as much so as 
he could be to them consistently with his prescribed 
policy. 

This lady appealed to General Sherman, who 
immediately ordered the removal of the guard, and 
permitted her to remove or sell any or all of her 
furniture, and other valuables, at her discretion. 
The lady with whom I conversed was under the 
necessity of calling upon General Sherman, after 
the publication of his banishment, and she repre- 
sents him as being very kind and conciliatory in 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 283 

his deportment towards her and others who visited 
him. He expressed much regret at the necessity 
which compelled him to order the citizens of At- 
lanta from their homes ; but stated, in justification 
of his course, that he intended to make Atlanta a 
second Gibraltar ; that, when he completed his de- 
fensive works, it would be impregnable ; and as no 
communication could be held with their friends in 
the South, they (the citizens) would suffer for food ; 
that it was impossible for him to subsist his army, 
and feed the citizens too, by a single line of rail- 
road ; and that, as he intended to hold Atlanta at 
all hazards, he thought it was humanity to send 
them out of the city, where they could obtain 
necessary supplies. 

He took the little child of my friend in his arms, 
and patted her rosy cheeks, calling her a * poor 
little exile/ and saying he was sorry to drive her 
away from her comfortable home, but that war was 
a cruel and inexorable thing, and its necessities 
compelled him to do many things which he heartily 
regretted. In conversation with the lady, he paid 
a just and well-merited tribute to the valor of our 
arms. He remarked that it would be no disgrace 
to us if we were finally subjugated — as we certainly 
would be — as we had fought against four or five 
times our number with a degree of valor which 
had excited the admiration of the world ; and the 



284 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

United States Government would gain no honor 
or credit if they succeeded in their purpose, as 
they had thus far failed with five men in the field 
to our one. 

He regarded the Southern soldiers as the bravest 
in the world, and admitted that in a fair field fight 
we could whip them two to our one; but he claimed 
for himself and his compeers the credit of possess- 
ing more strategic ability than our generals. " You 
can beat us in fighting, madam," said he, "but we 
can out-manoeuvre you ; your generals do not work 
half enough ; we work day and night, and spare no 
labor nor pains to carry out our plans." 

He permitted her to bring out her horse and 
rockaway, although his army was greatly needing 
horses at the time, and also to send her provisions 
to some suffering relatives within his lines. She 
speaks in high terms of the discipline of the Yan- 
kee army; says that the privates are more afraid of 
their officers than our slaves are of their masters, 
and that during her stay there was no disorderly 
conduct to be seen anywhere ; but that quiet and 
good order prevailed throughout the city. 

An instance of Yankee kindness deserves to be 
mentioned here. A widow lady, whose husband 
had been a member of the Masonic fraternity, 
died, shortly after the occupation of the city by the 
enemy. The Yankee officers gave her a decent 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 285 

and respectable burial, and then took her three 
orphan children and sent them to their own homes, 
to be educated at some Masonic institution in the 
Forth. 

From the facts which I report, on the authority 
of a lady of unquestioned veracity and respecta- 
bility, it will be seen that our barbarous foes are 
not entirely lost to all the dictates and impulses of 
humanity. Would to God that the exhibition of 
it were more frequent in their occurrence. 
Respectfully, yours, 

George G. !N". Macdonell. 

It was generally believed that Sherman intended 
to hold Atlanta permanently, as a base of future 
operations. But whoever will consider the various 
lines of communication, and their total length, will 
see at a glance that he never could have entertained 
such an idea for a moment. The distance from 
Louisville, Ky., on the Ohio River, to Nashville, is 
185 miles; from Nashville to Chattanooga, 151 
miles; and from Chattanooga to Atlanta, 136 
miles. Total distance, 472 miles. Over this long 
route supplies were carried to Atlanta. Thus it is 
evident that it would take a very large force to 
guard and keep open this line of communications. 
The enemy, however, supposed this was Sherman's 
purpose, and at once set to work with their cavalry 
on the lines of communication. 



286 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

A strong force, under command of General For- 
rest, appeared in Northern Alabama, where they 
compelled the garrison at Athens, Ala., under com- 
mand of Colonel Campbell, after a fight of two 
hours' duration, to surrender. The garrison con- 
sisted of five hundred men of the Sixth and Eighth 
Indiana cavalry. A detachment of three hundred 
men, sent from Decatur, Ala., to reenforce the gar- 
rison at Athens, were, after a most obstinate 
engagement, captured. Forrest then destroyed 
several miles of the Tennessee and Alabama Rail- 
road between Decatur itnd Athens, and all the 
bridges on the road. He then advanced towards 
Pulaski, Tenn., a village seventy-five miles south 
of Nashville. General L. H. Rousseau advanced 
to meet Forrest with the force of infantry and cav- 
alry under his command. He was hard pressed by 
the enemy, and was compelled to fall back slowly. 
Rousseau subsequently readvanced and maintained 
his position. While Rousseau was engaged with 
Forrest near Pulaski, a detachment from the rebel 
forces passed around Pulaski, and severed the 
communication between that place and Nashville. 
In the mean time, guerrillas in Kentucky captured 
two trains of cars on the route from Louisville to 
Nashville. They burned nineteen cars. 

On the 29th of October, three days after Rousseau 
met Forrest at Pulaski, Wheeler and Roddy were 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 287 

north of Decatur, Alabama, making their way to- 
wards the Railroad between that place and Chat- 
tanooga for the purpose of destroying the Railroad 
between Huntsville and Stevenson, and then effect 
a junction with Forrest at Tullahoma, Tennessee. 
Gen. Rousseau changed his operatious to the Chat- 
tanooga Railroad, at Tullahoma. 

But we cannot stop to notice all the efforts of 
the enemy to interrupt the communications of 
Sherman. These, undoubtedly, were the forerun- 
ners of Hood's great movement North. The Rich- 
mond papers threw out dark mysterious hints of 
some grand event that was about to be enacted 
that would compel Sherman to evacuate Atlanta 
and retreat back to Chattanooga, or else his army 
would be annihilated. So confident were the 
enemy of the success of their new scheme that 
their President, Jeff. Davis, in a public speech 
made at Macon, Georgia, on Sabbath, Septem- 
ber 25th, announced the determination of Hood 
to march into Tennessee to sever the wonder- 
fully attenuated lines of communications held by 
Sherman. 

General Sherman had anticipated this move- 
ment, and made all necessary arrangements to 
carry out his plans, the grandest movement of the 
war. He sent detachments under various com- 
manders at different points along the Railroad 



288 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

between Atlanta and Chattanooga, and all his 
spare forces to General Thomas. 

About the time that Davis made his famous 
speech at Macon, General Hood transferred his 
army from Lovejoy's Station, in the region of 
Jonesboro' twenty miles South of Atlanta, on the 
Macon Railroad to the West Point Railroad, near 
Newman. On the 29th and 30th of September the 
enemy crossed the Chattahoochee, threw himself 
on the Railroad running from Chattanooga to At- 
lanta, occupied Dallas and threatened Rome and 
Kingston. On the 5th of October, Hood struck at 
the important post of Altoona. His General, S. 
G. French, in command of the advance division of 
Stewart's corps made the assault and was hand- 
somely repulsed by our forces under the command 
of the gallant General Corse, a most skillful and 
intrepid officer. 

In the meantime, Sherman had left Atlanta in 
possession of the Twentieth Corps, General Slocum 
commanding, impregnably fortified and with abun- 
dant supplies ; and with two corps he moved North 
after Hood. He followed him closely like a pursu- 
ing foe. When Hood's general was assaulting 
Altoona, General Sherman was at Kenesaw 
Mountain, from the summit of which he signalled 
to General Corse at Altoona, over the heads of 
Hood's troops, to hold out until he relieved him. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 289 

He pressed Hood's rear so heavily that he was com- 
pelled to abandon the attack and move northward 
on the parallel roads east of the railroad. 

In reference to this affair, Generals Sherman and 
Howard issued the following orders : 

GENERAL CORSE'S DEFENCE OF ALTOONA PASS. 
MAJOR GENERAL SHERMAN'S ORDER. 

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ) 
In the Field, Kenesaw Mountain, Oct. 7, 1864. / 

Special Field Orders, No. 86. 

The General Commanding, avails himself of the opportunity, in 
the handsome defence made of "Altoona," to illustrate the 
most important principle in war, that fortified posts should be de- 
fended to the last, regardless of the relative numbers of the party 
attacking and attacked. 

Altoona was garrisoned by three regiments, commanded by 
Colonel Tourtelotte, and reenforced by a detachment from a divi- 
sion at Rome, under command of Brigadier-General J. M. Corse, 
on the morning of the 5th, and a few hours after was attacked by 
French's division, of Stewart's corps, two other divisions being 
near at hand and in support. General French demanded a sur- 
render, in a letter, to " avoid a useless effusion of blood," and 
gave but five minutes for answer. General Corse's answer was 
emphatic and strong that he and his command were ready for the 
" useless effusion of blood " as soon as it was agreeable to Gene- 
ral French, 

This was followed by an attack which was prolonged for five 
hours, resulting in the complete repulse of the enemy, who left 
his dead on the ground, amounting to more than two hundred, 
and four hundred prisoners, well and wounded. The " effusion 
of blood" was not "useless," as the position at Altoona was 
and is very* important to our present and future operations. 
Y 



290 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The thanks of this army are due, and are hereby accorded to 
General Corse, Colonel Tourtelotte, officers and men, for their 
determined and gallant defence of Altoona, and it is made an 
example to illustrate the importance of preparing in time, and 
meeting the danger, when present, boldly, manfully and well. 

This army, though unseen to the garrison, was cooperating by 
moving toward the road by which the enemy could alone escape, 
but unfortunately were delayed by the rain and mud ; but this 
fact hastened the retreat of the enemy. 

Commanders and garrisons of the posts along our railroads are 
hereby instructed that they must hold their posts to the last 
minute, sure that the time gained is valuable and necessary to 
their comrades at the front. 

By order of Major-General SHERMAN: 

L. M. Dayton, A. D. G. 

L. H. Everts, Captain and A. A. G. 

MJAOR-GENERAL HOWARD'S ORDER. 

Headquarters Department and Army Tennessee, > 
Near Kenesaw Mountain, October 9. / 

General Field Orders, No. 13. 

While uniting in the high commendation awarded by the Gen- 
eral-in-Chief, the Army of the Tennessee would tender through 
me its most hearty appreciation and thanks to Brigadier- General 
J. M. Corse for his promptitude, energy and eminent success in 
the defence of Altoona Pass, against a force so largely superior 
to his own ; and our warmest congratulations are extended to 
him, to Colonel Tourtelotte, and the rest of our comrades in arms 
who fought at Altoona, for the glorious manner in which they 
vetoed " the useless effusion of blood." 

0. 0. HOWARD, Major- General. 
Official 

M. R. Flint, A. D. C. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 291 

Oa the 12th of October, Hood, with one corps of 
his army, invested Dalton, and the two other corps 
were engaged in tearing up the railroad obstruct- 
ing Snake Creek Gap, in order to delay Sherman, 
who was rapidly pursuing. Threatening Chatta- 
nooga for a moment, Hood suddenly broke away 
and marched westerly to Lafayette, and southwest- 
erly to Gadsden. Thus in the campaign of a 
month's duration Hood had succeeded in severing 
the railroad between Chattanooga and Atlanta. 
At the end of the month, however, Sherman's 
forces, by great industry and skill, reopened the 
road. 

Anticipating Hood's movement to cross the Ten- 
nessee, troops were placed at Bridgeport and other 
points along the river. With the remainder of the 
army, Sherman moved to Galesville in pursuit of 
the enemy, at which place he remained for several 
days. This place, it will be remembered, is in 
Northern Alabama, near the Georgia line. Hood 
remained for more than a week at Gadsden, where 
he threw up fortifications. While in this position, 
it is said, upon pretty good authority, that Hood's 
army had a "happy time." Beauregard had brought 
reinforcements to Hood. "Whereupon the chief 
officers, Generals Hood, Beauregard, S. D. Lee, 
Cheatham, Clayton, Cleburn and Bate made 



292 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN. 

speeches promising to "wipe Sherman out from the 
list of Yankee officers." 

On the 23d of October Hood began to move bis 
forces northwesterly through Lookout Mountain 
towards Gunter's Landing and Decatur, on the 
Tennessee River. In the meantime, the army of 
General Dick Taylor had quickly moved up the 
Mobile and Ohio Railroad from Eastern Louisiana 
to Corinth, and thence to Tuscumbia. 

About the 1st of November portions of Hood's 
army crossed the river at Muscle Shoals, between 
Florence and Decatur, and at other points along 
the river. His forces were attacked at various 
points. The Union gunboats took part in these 
engagements, and in some instances succeeded in 
repulsing the enemy, aod for the time defeated 
their efforts to cross the river. The gunboats Un- 
dine and transports Venus and Cheseman were 
captured at Fort Herman, on the river, after a hard 
fight with the enemy's shore batteries. Most of 
the crew were killed or wounded. At Johnsonville, 
eight steamboats, loaded with government stores, 
were burned by the Union forces, to prevent them 
from falling into the hands of the enemy. The 
place was evacuated, and soon occupied by Forrest, 
who captured two of our gunboats that were left to 
defend the town. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 293 

Here Sherman and Hood parted, and forever. 
The enemy and the people of the entire country 
seemed to be unable to comprehend Sherman's 
movements, and were greatly perplexed. Sherman 
said of Hood: "Let him go North; our business is 
down South. If he will cross the river and march North, 
I will give him his rations." 

General Thomas was appointed to the command 
of all the troops in Tennessee and Kentucky, and 
had a force large enough to meet the enemy and 
manage him. 

About the time that Hood was crossing the Ten- 
nessee, Sherman sent the following characteristic 
telegram : 

" Hood has crossed the Tennessee. Thomas will 
take care of him and Nashville, while Schofield 
will not let him into Chattanooga or Knoxville. 
Georgia and South Carolina are at my mercy, and 
I shall strike. Do not be anxious about me. I am 
all right." 

While Sherman was engaged in the pursuit of 
Hood north, the enemy that were south of Atlanta, 
supposing that place abandoned, started with a 
grand nourish of trumpets to recapture what they 
had lost. They approached at two points, and after 
an engagement, which lasted about thirty minutes, 
they were disappointed and chagrined, and com- 
pelled to march back in greater haste than they 



294 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

advanced, leaving on the field upwards of twenty 
of their number killed and wounded. 

Hood continued Ms march north until he reached 
Franklin, within about twenty miles of Nashville, 
where his columns were terribly shattered by the 
troops of General Schofield in the battle at that 
place. From thence he marched to and invested 
Nashville, from which position he was subsequently 
driven by the forces of that noble old soldier, Gen- 
eral Thomas, after losing a large part of his army 
and most of his artillery. Thus ended the inglorious 
campaign of Hood to Sherman's rear. 

"We shall next see Sherman on his grand march 
from Atlanta to Savannah. 

A FACETIOUS LETTER FROM SHERMAN. 

When Sherman was at Atlanta, Ga., last fall, a 
Southern clergyman sent to him a complaint that 
his horse had been carried off by a United States 
soldier. The general sent back this humorous 
reply: 

Dear Sir — Your letter of September 14th is received. I ap- 
proach a question involving a title to a "horse" with deference 
for the laws of war. That mysterious code, of which we talk so 
much and know so little, is remarkably silent on the " horse." 
He is a beast so tempting to the soldier, to him of the wild cav- 
alry, the fancy artillery, or the patient infantry, that I find more 
difficulty in recovering a worthless, spavined beast, than in pay- 
ing a million of " greenbacks ;" so that I fear I must reduce your 
claim to one of finance, and refer you to the great Board of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 295 

Claims in Washington, that may reach your case by the time your 
grand-child becomes a great-grand-father. 

Privately, I think it was a sbabby thing in the scamp of the 
Thirty-first Missouri, who took your horse ; and the colonel or 
his brigadier should have restored him. But I cannot undertake 
to make good the sins of omission of my own colonels or briga- 
diers, much less those of a former generation. " When this cruel 
war is over," and peace once more gives you a parish, I will pro- 
mise, if near you, to procure out of one of Uncle Sam's corrals a 
beast that will replace the one taken from you wrongfully, but 
now it is impossible. We have a big journey before us, and need 
all we have, and, I fear, more too ; so look out when the Yanks 
are about, and hide your beasts, for my experience is that all 
soldiers are very careless in a search for title. I know that 
General Hardee will confirm this, my advice. 
With great respect, yours truly, 

W. T. SHERMAN, Major General. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SHERMAN'S GRAND MARCH FROM ATLANTA TO 
SAVANNAH. 

movement towards atlanta — preparations for 

the march the army orders of sherman and 

slocum — concentration of forces — the "gate city 

burned" communication cutoff — under a cloud 

—the enemy deceived the rebel press the gen- 
eral lines of the march progress of the army 

fight at griswoldville encamped on howell 

cobb's farm milledgeville occupied incident 

march to millen and savannah scouts sent 

out — Howard's dispatch to the navy — fort moal- 
ister captured journal of the march invest- 
ment and capture of savannah poetry sher- 
man's orders — correspondence british consul 

at savannah. 

In the last chapter we left Hood on the banks of 
the Tennessee, preparing for the invasion and con- 
quest of the middle portions of that State, while 
Sherman, to the astonishment of the enemy and 
the whole country, was marching back towards 
Atlanta. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 297 

Sherman announced his plans, in part, to his 
friend Captain Pennock of the United States Navy, 
in the following letter : 

Kingston, Ga., Nov. 3d, 1864. 
Capt, Pennock, U. S. N., Mound City : 

In a few days I will be off for salt water, and 
hope to meet my old friend D. D. Porter again. 
"Will you be kind enough to write and tell him to 
look out for me about Christmas, from Hilton Head 
to Savannah? 

"W. T. SHERMAN, Major- General 

At the time this letter was written Sherman was 
making every preparation for his great triumphal 
march through Georgia. All valuable property 
was removed to Chattanooga. The bridge across 
the Chattahoochee was burned, the railroad was 
torn up for miles and the rails heated and twisted 
so as to be unfit for future use, and large quantities 
of them were sent to Chattanooga. 

Sherman issued the order for his march at 
Kingston, Ga., Nov. 9th, 1864, from which we learn 
that the army was to be divided into two wings ; 
the right commanded by Major-General 0. O. 
Howard; the left by Major-General H. W. Slocum. 
The right wing was composed of the Fifteenth and 
Seventeenth Corps ; the left of the Fourteenth and 
Twentieth Corps. In addition to these forces there 
was, also, a large body of cavalry, commanded by 



298 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

CxenCiai Ivilpatrick, and a brigade of artillery for 
each corps, and one battery of horse artillery for 
the cavalry. The Fourteenth Corps was com- 
manded by Brevet Major-General Jeff. C. Davis ; 
the Fifteenth by Brevet Major-General Osterhaus; 
the Seventeenth by Major-General Blair, and the 
Twentieth by Major-General Slocum. 

The whole army, estimated by the enemy at 
thirty-five thousand actually numbered nearly sixty 
thousand well equipped soldiers, accustomed to 
long marches, fierce battles and glorious victories. 
They marched without tents or a general train of 
supplies. They were ordered to supply themselves 
from the country through which they marched. 
The frequent orders and exhortations of the rebel 
authorities compelling the Southern people to cease 
the culture of cotton, their late king, and raise 
breadstuffs, was an assurance to Sherman and his 
soldiers that they would find bread on the route. 

We here subjoin the order of Generals Sherman 
and Slocum, documents well worth reading and 
preserving. They shed light on all of this grand 
movement : 

SHERMAN'S ORDERS FOR HIS MARCH. 

Headquarters, Military Division of the Mississippi, 1 
In the Field, Kingston, Ga., Nov. 9, 1864. J 

Special Field Orders, No. 120. 

1. For the purpose of military operations this army is divided 

into two wings, viz : The right wing, Major-General 0. 0. Howard 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 299 

commanding, the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps ; the left wing, 
Major-General H. W. Slocum commanding, the Fourteenth and 
Twentieth Corps. 

2. The habitual order of march will be, whenever practicable, 
by four roads, as nearly parallel as possible, and converging at 
points hereafter to be indicated in orders. The cavalry, Brig- 
adier-General Kilpatrick commanding, will receive special orders 
from the Commander-in-Chief. 

3. There will be no general trains of supplies, but each corps 
will have its ammunition and provision train, distributed ha- 
bitually as follows : Behind each regiment should follow one 
wagon and one ambulance ; behind each brigade should follow a 
due proportion of ammunition wagons, provision wagons and am- 
bulances. In case of danger, each army corps should change 
this order of march by having his advance and rear brigade un- 
incumbered by wheels. The separate columns will start ha- 
bitually at seven A. M., and make about fifteen miles per day, 
unless otherwise fixed in orders. 

4. The army will forage liberally on the country during the 
march. To this end, each brigade commander will organize a 
good and sufficient foraging party, under the command of one or 
more discreet officers who will gather, near the route traveled, 
corn or forage of any kind, meat of any kind, vegetables, corn 
meal, or whatever is needed by the command ; aiming at all times 
to keep in the wagon trains at least ten days' provisions for the 
command, and three days' forage. Soldiers must not enter the 
dwellings of the inhabitants or commit any trespass ; during the 
halt or a camp they may be permitted to gather turnips, potatoes 
and other vegetables, and drive in stock in front of their camps. 
To regular foraging parties must be entrusted the gathering of 
provisions and forage at any distance from the road traveled. 

5. To array corps commanders is entrusted the power to des- 
troy mills, houses, cotton gins, &c, and for them this general 



300 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

principle is laid down : In districts and neighborhoods where 
the army is unmolested, no destruction of such property should 
be permitted ; but should guerrillas or bushwhackers molest our 
march, or should the inhabitants burn bridges, obstruct roads, or 
otherwise manifest local hostility, then army corps commanders 
should order and enforce a devastation more or less relentless, 
according to the measure of such hostility. 

6. As for horses, mules, wagons, &c, belonging to the in- 
habitants, the cavalry and artillery may appropriate freely and 
without limit ; discriminating, however, between the rich, who 
are usually hostile, and the poor or industrious, usually neutral 
or friendly. Foraging parties may also take mules or horses to 
replace the jaded animals of their trains, or to serve as pack 
mules for the regiments or brigades. In all foraging, of what- 
ever kind, the parties engaged will refrain from abusive and 
threatening language, and may, when the officer in command thinks 
proper, give written certificates of the facts, but not receipts ; 
and they will endeavor to leave with each family a reasonable 
portion for their maintenance. 

7. Negroes who are able-bodied and can be of service to the 
several columns, may be taken along ; but each army commander 
will bear in mind that the question of supplies is a very important 
one, and that his first duty is to see to those who bear arms. 

8. The organization at once of a good pioneer battalion for 
each corps, composed, if possible of negroes, should be attended 
to. This battalion should follow the advance guard, should 
repair roads and double them if possible, so that the columns will 
not be delayed after reaching bad places. Also, army com- 
manders should study the habit of giving the artillery and 
wagons the road, and marching their troops on one side ; and 
also, instruct the troops to assist wagons at steep hills or bad 
crossings of streams. 

9. Captain 0. M. Poe, Chief Engineer, will assign to each wing 
of the army a pontoon train, fully equipped and organized, and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 301 

the commanders thereof will see to its being properly protected 
at all times. 

By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN. 

L. M. Dayton, Aid-de-Camp. 

GENERAL SLOCUM'S ORDER TO HIS WING OF THE ARMY. 

Headquarters Twentieth Corps, "> 
Atlanta, Ga., Nov. 7, 1864. / 

Circular. 

When the troops leave camp on the march about to commence, 
they will carry, in haversack, two days' rations salt meat, two 
days' hard bread, ten days' coffee and salt, and five days' sugar. 
Each infantry soldier will carry sixty rounds of ammunition on 
his person. Every effort should be made, by officers and men, to 
save rations and ammunition ; not a round of ammunition should 
be lost or unnecessarily expended. It is expected that the com- 
mand will be supplied with subsistence and forage mainly from 
the country. All foraging will be done by parties detailed for the 
purpose by brigade commanders, under such rules as may be pre- 
scribed by brigade and division commanders. Pillaging, marauding 
and every act of cruelty or abuse of citizens will be severely pun- 
ished. Each brigade commander will have a strong rear guard 
on every march, and will order the arrest of all stragglers. The 
danger of straggling on this march should be impressed upon the 
mind of every officer and man of the command. Not only the 
reputation of the corps, but the personal safety of every man will 
be dependent, in a great measure, upon the rigid enforcement of 
discipline and the care taken of the rations and ammunition. 

By command of Major-General SLOCUM. 

H. W. Perkins, A. A. G. 

The troops were all concentrated in and near At- 
lanta. The city was set on fire in order to destroy 
everything that might be of use to the enemy. 
z 



302 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Aii eye witness of the burning of Atlanta on the 
day and night of the 15th of November, thus des- 
cribes that scene : 

" Atlanta is entirely deserted of human beings, 
excepting a few soldiers here and there. The 
houses are vacant ; there is no trade or traffic of 
any kind ; the streets are empty. Beautiful roses 
bloom in the gardens of fine houses, but a terrible 
stillness and solitude cover it all, depressing the 
hearts even of those who are glad to destroy it. 
In your peaceful homes at the North you cannot 
conceive how these people have suffered for their 
crimes. 

" A grand and awful spectacle is presented to the 
beholder in this beautiful city, now in flames. By 
order, the chief engineer had destroyed, by 
powder and fire all the storehouses, depot buildings 
and machine shops. The heaven is one expanse of 
lurid fire ; the air is filled with flying, burning cin- 
ders ; buildings covering over two hundred acres 
are in ruins or in flames ; every instant there is the 
sharp detonation or the smothered burning sound 
of exploding shells and powder concealed in the 
buildings, and then the sparks and flame shoot 
away up into the black and red roof, scattering the 
cinders far and wide. 

" These are the machine shops where have been 
forged and cast rebel cannon, shot and shell, that 



AND IirS CAMPAIGNS. 308 

have carried death to many a brave defender of our 
nation's honor. These warehouses have been the 
receptacle of munitions of war, stored, to be used 
for our destruction. The city, which next to Rich- 
mond, has furnished more material for prosecuting 
the war than any other in the South, exists no more 
as a means for the enemies of the Union. 

" A brigade of Massachusetts soldiers are the only 
troops now left in the town. They will be the last 
to leave it. To-night I heard the really fine band 
of the Thirty-third Massachusetts playing 'John 
Brown's soul goes marching on,' by the light of 
the burning buildings. I have never heard that 
noble anthem when it was so grand, so solemn, so 
inspiring." 

On the 14th and 15th, the march began in earnest. 
As Cortez burned his ships behind him, and thus 
cut off all possibility of a retreat, so Sherman broke 
up his communications ; cut loose from all support 
and marched, relying upon his noble soldiery 
and his own genius for a successful issue of the 
campaign. 

For days and weeks he was not heard from 
3xcept through the enemy's channels. The gen- 
eral, his brave army and their movements were 
covered with a dark cloud from the view of their 
friends. No one seemed to know where they were 



304 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

or whither they were marching, or what had be- 
fallen them. All over the North, men daily and 
almost hourly inquired, where is Sherman ? His 
bold movement, imperfectly comprehended, was 
regarded as fall of peril and hazardous in the ex- 
treme. Nevertheless not a few believed most con- 
fidently, that he would make a successful march 
either to the Gulf or to the Atlantic coast. Gen- 
eral Grant had said, " I expect more of Sherman 
than of any other man in the country." 

This movement was as incomprehensible to the 
enemy as to us, and far more perplexing to them. 
They regarded it as a retreat, and not as the de- 
liberate plan of a great military genius. Their 
views, as expressed by their public presses, are cu- 
rious, and should be preserved, as a record of the 
times, and the manner in which they were either 
deceived or undertook to deceive the public in 
regard to Sherman's movements. 

We here insert a few extracts from the enemy's 
press, as a monument of Sherman's great achieve- 
ment, and their amazing folly. 

EXTRACTS FROM THE REBEL PRESS. 
[From the Augusta Constitutionalist, November 20th.] 

We must retard, harass, starve, destroy the army 
of Sherman. The opportunity is ours. The hand 
of God is in it. The blow, if we can give it as it 
should be given, may end the war. We urge our 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 305 

friends in the track of the advance to remove all 
forage and provisions, horses, mules, negroes and 
stock, and burn the balance. Let the invader find 
the desolation he would leave behind him staring 
him in the face. You must do it yourself, or the 
enemy will do it. 

Let the cry of Beauregard, who is now with us, 
go up through the State — to arms! to arms! 

It is fully believed that General Sherman, find- 
ing his way North entirely closed, and a bold and 
defiant army confronting him has determined upon 
making a bold retreat to the rear, where no army 
of consequence could impede his movement. 

In our judgment it is the Anabasis of Sherman. 
L is plain his only object can be the making of a 
certain and secure base. He must move fast and 
obtain his object speedily, or he is lost. 

His movement is occasioned by the fact that For- 
rest has destroyed his stores at Johnson ville, and 
cut his communication on the north. 

Sherman has many weary miles to march in ob- 
taining his object. It is absurdity to talk about his 
making a winter campaign with no communication 
with his Government. He is retreating — simply 
retreating. He will destroy as he goes, but that 
makes it none the less so. 



306 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

[From the Augusta Constitutionalist, November 22d.] 

To our country friends we again reiterate the ad- 
vice — the advice of our generals and congressmen, 
the advice which common sense would give: — cut 
trees across all the roads in front of the enemy, 
burn the bridges, remove everything possible in 
time, and before the enemy arrives, burn and de- 
stroy what cannot be removed — leave nothing 
upon which he can subsist; and hide the mill- 
stones and machinery of all mills. The cattle of 
the country should be driven off, and the hogs un- 
penned and hastened into the woods and swamps. 
By such a course our own citizens, without guns, 
can conquer the enemy. It is not possible for him 
to haul provisions and forage ; and could his line 
of march be retarded by roads blocked with fallen 
trees, and streams (however small, for slight 
streams retard artillery) made bridgeless, the food 
for horses and men removed or destroyed, his 
army at once becomes an easy conquest to the 
troops, and veterans at that, which already begin 
to swarm about the supposed points in his line of 
march. 

It is the duty of the officers in command to see 
that this road is made difficult, and forage and pro- 
visions removed and destroyed. Squads of men 
should be scouring the country in front of his ad- 
vance, with orders to urge the people first to 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 807 

remove forage and dismantle and secrete millstones 
and machinery; and if they fail through unwilling- 
ness to do it, then to burn and destroy what cannot 
be removed. 

The Russians destroyed the Grand Army of Na- 
poleon of five hundred thousand men by destroying 
the country about them by the full use of fire ap- 
plied to their own cities, houses and granaries ; 
and, in forcing his rapid and disastrous retreat 
from their country, gave the first great blow to that 
master in the art of war which conquered France, 
and placed the great leader a prisoner on the island 
of St. Helena. Let G-eorgians imitate their unselfish- 
ness and love of country for a few weeks, and the 
army of Sherman will have the fate of Napoleon. 

If Sherman lives and forages upon the country, 
it will be, first, the mean and cowardly selfishness 
of the people ; and, second, the inertness and in- 
difference of Confederate officers. It is the natural 
duty of the former, as G-eorgians, to destroy rather 
than the enemy should eat it ; the sworn duty of 
the latter, as true officers of the Confederacy, to see 
that this be the case. 

[From the Savannah News, November 22d.] 

The present war has afforded practical demon- 
strations of all the theories of military tactics — of 
surprises, concentration, celerity of movement, 



308 

strategic feints, retreats, intrepid onsets and pro- 
tracted sieges — and to-day we are witnessing a re- 
enactment of that great military disaster, the forced 
retreat of a victorious army through a hostile coun- 
try. As Napoleon was forced to retreat from his 
conquest of Moscow, so is his feeble and heartless 
imitator, Sherman, forced to return from Atlanta, 
the capture of which cost him the loss of a larger 
army than that which he now commands. The 
great aim of the abolition despotism at Washing- 
ton in the commencement of the spring campaign 
was the capture of Richmond and Atlanta. The 
conquest of one or both of these great Confederate 
centres was deemed essential to the maintenance of 
Black Republican ascendancy, and hence the main 
efforts of the Lincoln Government were directed 
to the accomplishment of those obj ects. More than 
a hundred thousand lives were vainly sacrificed in 
the attempt to reach Richmond, and to-day Lee's 
heroic veterans hold the remnant of Grant's army 
cowering before their impregnable lines. Sher- 
man, after months of hard fighting, and after the 
sacrifice of nearly a hundred thousand troops, suc- 
ceeded against a vastly inferior force in obtaining 
possession of our great railroad centre. But he 
found it a barren victory. The ruin which he had 
wrought was no compensation for the sacrifice he 
had made — the tenantless houses, the devastated 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 309 

fields and acres of burial grounds with which he 
had surrounded himself, offered no subsistence for 
the remnant of his army. He found, too late, that 
conquest was not victory, and that the army whom 
he had vainly endeavored to subdue, still uncon- 
quered and defiant, had not only escaped his grasp, 
but had assumed a position which threatened his 
destruction. Cut off from his base of supplies, the 
country in the track of his advance being exhaust- 
ed, surrounded on every side by a hostile people, 
starvation staring him in the face, he was forced to 
look for a retreat from his perilous position. His 
movement towards Chattanooga, as well as the ap- 
pearance of a large fleet of supply ships off Mobile 
a few days since, leave no doubt that he designed 
to seek a water base and the cover of gunboats at 
Mobile ; but the active operations of Forrest, and 
the concentration of forces under Hood in lower 
Alabama, rendered such a retreat impossible. 
Every other avenue of escape being closed, his last 
and only desperate hope is to make his way through 
the interior of the State to the Atlantic coast 
While his main body will be compelled to advance 
slowly through that section of the State where he 
hopes to find subsistence, his light troops and cav- 
alry will occupy a wide breadth of country, threat- 
ening our principal towns, and by feints in all direc- 
tions, for a time, perhaps, succeed in deceiving us 



310 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

in regard to his real point of destination, and thus 
prevent a concentration of our forces. 

A few days, however, will develop his designs, 
when, if our united efforts are properly directed, 
he will reap the reward of his reckless temerity 
in utter annihilation. We have only to arouse 
our whole arms-bearing people — hover on his 
front, his flanks and rear — remove from his reach 
or destroy everything that will subsist man or 
beast — retard his progress by every means in our 
power, and, when the proper time comes, fall upon 
him with the relentless vengeance of an insulted 
and outraged people, and there need be no doubt 
of the result. As the great Napoleon found his 
Moscow, so will the brutal Sherman find his 
Atlanta. 

[From the Savannah News, November 22d.] 

Now is the time for the men of Georgia to rally 
to her defense, in response to the call of the Gover- 
nor. He has done his duty — the men of the Slate 
must now perform theirs. If they do, our State 
will be delivered from impending ruin. Be prompt 
to the rescue. 

The patriots — the genuine lovers of their own 
soil— of their wives, children and neighbors, and 
of liberty, will not hesitate to rush to arms. Let 
all who are able to do any good at the front, and 
who try to dodge or shirk their duty in this solemn 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 311 

and important hour, be marked. The man who 
now refuses to defend us is unworthy of property, 
liberty or country. 

" He who dallies is a dastard, 
And he who doubts is damned." 

[From the Register, November 22d.] 

General Fry issues an order this morning, call- 
ing on all the men in Augusta to prepare imme- 
diately for the defense of their homes, by uniting 
themselves with some local organization. We have 
no need to say a word of the importance of this 
call. It can no longer be doubted that an insolent 
foe is in the very heart of our beloved Empire 
State, burning, pillaging and desolating the coun- 
try he passes over. Our homes are threatened with 
the same fate that has thrust thousands from their 
homes in the upper portion of the State. The 
enemy is coming with his hell hounds, thirsty for 
hinder, and the torch is red in his hands. He 
would leave our beautiful city a smouldering heap 
of blackened ruins, our firesides desolate, our 
women and children thrust out of house and home, 
our altars "*esecrated, and our whole country a 
barren waste. Georgians, can there be need of an 
appeal to rouse you to your duty in this trying 
hour? We think not. If you are not insensible 
to all the principles of patriotism, you will rally 
now — rally as one man to meet the coming foe. 



312 

You will not have to stand alone to oppose the 
coming storm. Soldiers are already arriving, — ■ 
others are on their way from Virginia. Shall they 
come and find you inactive? Nay; let every arm 
now grasp its weapon, and every effort be made to 
throw obstructions in the pathway of the foe. On 
you alone depends your safety. Remain inactive, 
and the consequence may prove fatal; do your 
duty, and the overthrow of the enemy is sure. 

[From the Richmond Examiner, November 26th.] 

The news from Georgia, now the most interest- 
ing of all, is exceedingly meagre and untrustwor- 
thy; but no doubt can now be entertained of 
Sherman's design or of his destination. When 
Davis sent, and Hood took, the only army apparent 
in the country off his shoulders, and carried it 
through the mountains to stick it in the mud 
between Tuscumbia and Florence, Sherman deter- 
mined to make an attempt on the lines of commu- 
nication between Virginia, the Carolinas, and the 
rest of the Confederate States. His work in 
Northern Georgia was done, and for ulterior ope- 
rations any point on the seacoast would be a better 
base than Chattanooga. He risked much in ap- 
pearance, but perhaps little in reality, by destroying 
his communications. A marching army can trans- 
port ammunition for at least three pitched battles, 
and for supplies this season of the year he might 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 313 

partly rely on the country through which he pro- 
posed to pass. If he could take Macon or Augusta 
by the way, he would accomplish great things; but 
the destruction of these towns was not his main 
object. His design was to destroy the railroads, as 
far as he could, which ran from Southern and 
Western Georgia to Virginia and the Carolinas, 
and to rest his army at Beaufort and Port Royal. 
That he would go to that point rather than Sa- 
vannah, is nearly certain ; for if he directed his 
course to Savannah or to Charleston, he would find 
fortified and well defended cities, and his troops, 
exhausted by a long march, both in strength and 
ammunition, would be wholly unfit to reduce either 
place. But the enemy already has possession of 
Beaufort. He would have no fighting to do there, 
and he would find transports laden with every spe- 
cies of supply awaiting his arrival. It is, therefore, 
reasonable to believe that Beaufort is the point of 
destination, and that if he fails at Augusta, he will 
make his way thither as fast as the Confederate 
troops will permit him. If the reader will glance 
at the map, he will perceive that when Sherman 
has passed from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and 
thence to Beaufort, he will have severed every rail- 
road between Georgia and Virginia. This sever- 
ance will be easily repaired; but if he can establish 
himself permanently at Beaufort, he may be able 



314 

to operate against those roads repeatedly. Fur- 
thermore, Beaufort lies between Charleston and 
Savannah, and can be conveniently used as the 
base of land operations against either city. It is 
evidently highly important that Sherman should 
never take Augusta or Macon, and should never 
reach Beaufort. 

[From the Richmond Whig, November 28th.] 

We do not intend to inform the Yankee news- 
papers where Sherman now is, but we feel no 
hesitation in assuring them that he is not in 
Charleston or Savannah, or either in Macon or 
Augusta; and that not one of those cities has 
been threatened by his forces. We can tell them 
likewise that his march has been even more 
leisurely than he anticipated; and that, so far 
from accomplishing the modest fifteen miles a 
day, provided for in his orders, he has not attained 
much more, on an average, than the half of that 
rate. It is now fifteen days since he left Atlanta. 
In a week he was to be in possession of Macon, 
and in twelve days of Augusta, and in a few 
days more of some other important point; but 
where is he now? We leave it to the Yan- 
kee papers to guess, supplying them only 
with the information that he has not found 
sweet potatoes very abundant in Georgia, and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 315 

that hog and hominy have not been served up 
for the entertainment of his bedeviled troops." 

From Atlanta two railroads, the Georgia and 
the Georgia Central, run in a southeasterly direc- 
tion to the Atlantic coast. The Georgia Railroad 
passes through Augusta, to Charleston; Georgia 
Central, through Macon to Savannah. From 
Atlanta to Macon the distance is 103 miles ; from 
Macon to Savannah 190 miles. The distance from 
Atlanta to Augusta is 171 miles; from Augusta to 
Charleston 137 miles. These two great railroads 
were the general lines of Sherman's march of 
wonderful distances. He moved out of Atlanta 
while that place was yet in names, in two columns. 
The right wing, under Howard, marched straight 
down the Macon and Western Railroad, south of 
the " Gate City," first striking East Point, where 
the Atlantic and "West Point Railroad crosses it, 
and from thence to Rough and Ready, at which 
point, after sharp skirmishing with the enemy's 
cavalry, under command of Iverson, who had 
made several amusing demonstrations, which was 
ycleped by the enemy as " the siege of Atlanta," 
reached Jonesboro, on Wednesday, the 16th, and 
encamped for the night. At this place the railroad 
buildings were destroyed. 

At Jonesboro there was a division of our forces. 
On the 18th the infantry occupied Griffin, on the 



316 

Atlantic and Macon Railroad. The cavalry passed 
from McDonough, where they had burned the 
court house and other public buildings, and 
reached this same road at Forsythe, and thus 
destroyed the communications between Atlanta 
and Macon. The enemy fell back to Macon, 
where their principal forces were concentrating, 
supposing that it was Sherman's intention to attack 
that stronghold. Instead, however, of marching 
to the fortifications of Macon, the column turned 
due east, following the general direction of the 
Georgia Central Railroad. The advanced cavalry 
occupied Hillsboro and Monticello, and destroyed 
everything in both places that could be of value to 
the enemy. The infantry encamped that night at 
Indian Spring, near the town of Jackson. This 
part of the army, the right wing, spent the 19th in 
preparing bridges to cross the Ocomulgee River. 
On the 20th the passage of the stream was effected, 
and the army marched from there to Gordon on 
the Georgia Central Railroad, south west of Mil- 
ledgeville, the capital of the State. At this point 
great damage was done to the Central Road, and 
the railroad running from thence to Milledgeville. 
From here General Walcott, in command of a 
detachment of cavalry and a brigade of infantry, 
was thrown forward to Griswoldville, towards 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 317 

Macon, in the rear of the army, merely for de- 
monstrative purposes. The enemy, five thousand 
strong, advanced upon our troops, who had thrown 
up temporary breastworks, with a section of a bat- 
tery in position. The cavalry fell slowly back on 
either flank of the brigade, protecting them from 
attack in flank and rear. The enemy consisted of 
Hardee's old corps, which was brought up from 
Savannah, and chiefly State militia. " "With that 
ignorance of danger common to new troops," 
said an eye-witness, " the rebels rushed upon our 
veterans with the greatest fury. They were re- 
ceived with grape shot and musketry at point 
blank range, our soldiers firing coolly while shout- 
ing derisively to the quivering columns to come 
on, as if they thought the whole thing a nice joke. 
The enemy resumed the attack, but with the same 
fatal result, and were soon in full flight, leaving 
more than three hundred killed and wounded on 
the field. Our loss was some forty killed and 
wounded. A pretty severe lesson." 

Meanwhile the left wing of the army, Slocum's 
column, passed through Decatur, Covington and 
Madison, and having destroyed everything that 
could be of advantage to the enemy, marched on 
towards Milledgeville, the capital. Before reach- 
ing the latter place, it is said that Sherman camped 
on one of the plantations of Howell Cobb. Said 



318 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

one who was with the army at the time : " We 
found his granaries well filled with corn and wheat, 
part of which was distributed and eaten by our 
animals and men. A large supply of syrup made 
from sorghum, which we found at nearly every 
plantation on the march, was stored in an out- 
house. This was also disposed of to the soldiers, 
and the poor decrepit negroes, which this humane, 
liberty -loving major general left to die in this place 
a few days ago. Becoming alarmed, Cobb remov- 
ed all the able-bodied mules, horses, cows and 
slaves. He left behind some fifty old men — crip- 
ples, and women and children — with scarcely 
enough clothing to cover their nakedness, with 
little or no food, and without means of procuring 
any. We found them cowering over the fire-places 
of their miserable huts, where the wind whirled 
through the crevices between the logs, frightened 
at the approach of the Yankees, who, they had 
been told would kill them. A more forlorn, 
neglected set of human beings I never saw." 

General Sherman distributed provisions among 
them, and assured them that we were their friends, 
and not their foes. 

Slocum, with the Twentieth Corps, on the 22d 
of November, entered Milledgeville. A corres- 
pondent of one of our public journals thus speaks 
of this event ; 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 319 

" Milledgeville, November 24. 

" "We are in full possession of the capital of the 
State of Georgia, and without firing a gun in its 
conquest. On Friday last the Legislature, which 
had been in session, hearing of our approach, 
hastily decamped without any adjournment. The 
legislative panic spread among the citizens to such 
an extent as to depopulate the place, except of a 
few old gentlemen and ladies and the negroes, the 
latter welcoming our approach with ecstatic ex- 
clamations of joy : ' Bress the Lord! tanks be to 
Almighty God; th> Yanks is come; de day ob 
jubilee hab arribed; and then accompanied their 
words with rather embarrassing hugs, which those 
nearest the sidewalks received quite liberally. 

" General Slocum, with the Twentieth Corps, 
first entered the city, arriving by way of Madison, 
having accomplished his mission of destroying the 
railroads and valuable bridges at Madison. The 
fright of the legislators, described by witnesses, 
must have been comical in the extreme. They 
little imagined the movement of our left wing, 
hearing first of the advance of Kilpatrick on the 
extreme right toward Macon, and supposed that to 
be another raid. What their opinion was when 
Howard's army appeared at McDonough it would 
be difficult to say, and their astonishment must 
have approached insanity when the other two 



320 

columns were heard from — one directed toward 
Augusta and the other swiftly marching straight 
upon their devoted city. 

" It seemed as if they were surrounded upon all 
sides except toward the east, and that their doom 
was sealed. With the certain punishment for their 
crimes looming up before them, they sought every 
possible means of escape. Private effects, house- 
hold furniture, everything, was conveyed to the 
depot, and loaded into cars until they were filled 
and heaped, and the flying people could not find 
standing room. 

" Any and every price was obtained for a vehicle. 
A thousand dollars was cheap for a common buggy, 
and men rushing about the streets in agony of fear 
lest they should < fall victims to the ferocity of the 
Yankees.' 

" Several days of perfect quiet passed, after this 
exodus, when, on a bright, sunshiny morning, a 
regiment entered the city with a band playing the 
national airs, which music had many a day since 
been hushed in the capital of Georgia. 

WHAT SHERMAN DID AT MILLEDGEVILLE. 

"But few of the troops were marched through 
the city. Some two or three regiments were de- 
tailed under the orders of the engineers to de- 
stroy certain property designated by the general 
commanding. The magazines, arsenals, depot 



i 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 321 

buildings, factories of one kind and another with 
storehouses containing large amounts of govern- 
ment property, and some 1,700 bales of cotton 
burned. Private houses were respected every- 
where — even those of noted rebels; and I heard 
of no instance of pillage or insult to the inhabi- 
tants. One or two of the latter, known as having 
.been in the rebel army, were made prisoners of 
war, but the surgeons at the hospitals, the principal 
of the insane asylum, and others, expressed their 
gratitude that such perfect order was maintained 
throughout the city. 

" General Sherman is at the executive mansion, 
its former occupant having with extremely bad 
grace fled from his distinguished visitor, taking 
with him the entire furniture of the building. As 
General Sherman travels with a menage, (a roil of 
blankets, and haversack full of hard-tack,) which 
is as complete for a life out in the open air as in a 
palace, the discourtesy of Govornor Brown was not 
a serious inconvenience. 

" General Sherman's opening move in the pre- 
sent campaign has been successful in the highest 
degree. At first moving his army in three columns, 
with a column of cavalry on his extreme right, 
upon eccentric lines, he diverted the attention of 
the enemy, so that he concentrated his forces at 



322 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

extreme points, Macon and Augusta, leaving un- 
impeded the progress of the main body. In this 
campaign, the end of which does not yet appear, 
it is not the purpose of the general to spend his 
time before fortified cities, nor yet to encumber 
his wagons with wounded men. His instructions 
to Kilpatrick were to demonstrate against Macon, 
getting within five miles of the city." 

On the appearance of our army in Milleclgeville, 
the proprietor of the principal hotel of that city 
fled, leaving the building and its valuable contents 
in the hands of an old lady. The silver ware and 
other valuables were deposited in a closet by this 
old lady, and securely locked as she supposed. It 
is said that one of the officers of the army borrow- 
ed the key, in his official capacity, and after dis- 
covering the contents of the closet, neglected to 
lock the door, but returned the key. The rank 
and file, in accordance with the maxim that " all 
is fair in love and war," plunged into the closet, 
and half an hour thereafter a chaste variety of 
spoons, knives and forks, silver ware and crockery, 
was flourishing in the arms of a hundred soldiers. 

As a general rule, our soldiers were not per- 
mitted to enter private houses, or disturb the 
property of private families. They were allowed 
to help themselves freely to the productions of the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 323 

country, such as sweet potatoes, chickens, tur- 
keys, ducks, beef, and whatever might be neces- 
sary for the comfort of the " inner man." Few 
of the " boys in blue" made the march on empty 
stomachs. 

Keeping the general direction of the two rail- 
roads, as heretofore indicated, the two wings of the 
army moved on, overcoming the obstacles in their 
way without much difficulty and without any very 
serious fighting. The enemy learned, when it was 
too late, that Sherman would not delay his columns 
for the sake of capturing the city of Macon, where 
they had a strong force concentrated behind breast- 
works and fortifications. "Not could the enemy tell 
as the army moved east, whether Sherman aimed 
at Augusta and Charleston or Savannah. The 
deception was kept up until the whole army was 
concentrated at Millen, with the exception of the 
cavalry, a portion of which, under Kilpatrick, oc- 
cupied Waynesboro, between Millen and Augusta 
for the purpose of keeping up the deception. The 
army then turned South and marched down the 
peninsula between the Savannah and Ogeechee 
Rivers. On the afternoon of the 8th of December, 
the signal guns of the navy, in Ossabaw Sound, were 
distinctly heard, which sent a thrill of gladness 
through the hearts of our brave soldiers. 



324 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

On the evening of December the 9th, General 
Howard sent Captain Duncan and two scouts to 
open up communications with General Foster and 
Admiral Dahlgren. The captain descended the 
Ogeechee River in a small boat on the 12th, 
and delivered the following dispatch to Admiral 
Dahlgren : 

Headquarters, Army of the Tennessee, | 
Near Savannah Canal, Dec, 9, 1864. j 

To the Commander of the United States Naval 
Forces in the vicinity of Savannah, Georgia — 
Sir : We have met with perfect success thus 
far. The troops are in fine spirits and near by. 
Respectfully, 
O. 0. HOWARD, Major-General, 
Commanding Right Wing of the Army. 
On Tuesday, December 13th, the second division 
of the Fifteenth Corps captured Fort McAllister. 
This work is situated on the Ogeechee River fifteen 
miles from Savannah, at the point where the river 
is crossed by the Savannah, Albany and Gulf 
Railroad, and about six miles from Ossabaw 
Sound. The capture of this fort opened complete 
communications between the army and the navy. 
Sherman sent to the War Department the fol- 
lowing dispatch, announcing the capture of Fort 
McAllister and the success of his march to the sea : 
" To-day, at 5 P. M., General Hazen's division 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 325 

of the Fifteenth Corps, carried Fort McAllister by 
assault, capturing its entire garrison and stores. 
This opened to us the Ossabaw Sound, and I passed 
down on a gun-boat to communicate with the 
fleet. Before opening the communication we had 
completely destroyed all railroads leading into Sa- 
vannah, and invested the city. The left is on the 
Savannah River, ten miles above this city, and the 
right on the Ogeechee, at King's Bridge. 

" The army is in splendid order, the weather fine, 
and supplies abundant. Our march was most 
agreeable and not molested by guerillas. We 
reached Savannah three days ago, but owing to 
Fort McAllister we could not communicate; but 
now we have Fort McAllister, we can go ahead. 
We have captured two boats on Savannah River, 
and prevented their gunboats from coming down. 
The estimated population of Savannah is 25,000, 
and the garrison 15,000. Gen. Hardee commands. 

" We have not lost a wagon on the trip, but have 
gathered in a large supply of negroes, mules and 
horses. Our teams are in better condition than 
when we started. My first duty will be to clear 
the army of superfluous negroes, mules and horses. 

" I have utterly destroyed over two hundred miles 
of rail, and consumed all stores and provisions that 
were essential to the armies of Lee and Hood. 



B* 



326 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

" The quick work made with McAllister, and the 
opening of communication with our fleet, and con- 
sequent independence for supplies, dissipates all 
their boasted threats to head me off and starve the 
army. 

" I regard Savannah as already gained. 
"Yours truly, 

( Signed, ) " W. T. SHERA2AJS", 

" Major-General" 

In this connection, the reader will be pleased 
with the following extracts from the journal of one 
who accompanied the grand triumphal march of 
Sherman, from which he will be able to gather a 
history of the more important events and incidents 
of the march, not heretofore recorded in these 
pages : 

MARCHING ON. 

Near Tonnille Station, on the Georgia ) 
Central Railroad, Nov. 27. j 

Since writing the above, the enemy have moved 
forward all along the line. The rebels seem to 
have understood, but too late, that it was not Sher- 
man's intention to make a serious attack upon 
Macon. They have, however, succeeded in getting 
Wheeler across the Oconee at a point below the 
railroad bridge. We first became aware of their 
presence in our front by the destruction of several 
small bridges across Buffalo Creek, on the two 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 327 

roads leading to Sandersville, over which, were 
advancing the Twentieth and Fourteenth Corps. 

We were delayed but a few hours. The passage 
was also contested by the rebel cavalry under 
Wheeler, and they fought our front all the way, 
and into the streets of Sandersville. The Twen- 
tieth Corps had the advance, deploying a regiment 
as skirmishers, forming the remainder of the 
brigade in line of battle on either side of the road. 
The movement was executed in the handsomest 
manner, and was so effectual as not to impede the 
march of the column in the slightest degree, 
although the roll of musketry was unceasing. 
Our loss was not serious, twenty odd killed and 
wounded. 

NEAR THE OCONEE. 

As the Twentieth Corps entered the town they 
were met by the Fourteenth, whose head of column 
arrived at the same moment. While these two 
corps had met with the obstructions above men- 
tioned, the army, under Gen. Howard, was 
attempting to throw a pontoon across the Oconee 
at the Georgia Central Railroad Bridge. Here 
they met a force under the command of General 
Wayne, which was composed of a portion of Wheel- 
er's cavalry, militia, and a band of convicts who 
had been liberated from the penitentiary upon the 
condition that they would join the army. 



328 

The most of these desperadoes have been taken 
prisoners, dressed in their State Prison clothing. 
General Sherman has turned them loose, believing 
that Gov. Brown had not got the full benefits of 
his liberality. The rebels did not make a remark- 
ably stern defense of the bridge, for Howard was 
able to cross his army yesterday, and commenced 
oreaking railroad again to-day. In fact, all of the 
army, except one corps, are engaged in the same 
work. Morgan, with his army, was hardly able to 
reach this point when he met Gen. Hardee, who 
has managed to get around here from Macon. Our 
troops struck the railroad at the station a few hours 
after the frightened band escaped. 

THANKSGIVING DAY KEPT. 

We have been told that the country was very 
poor east of Oconee, but our experience has been 
a delightful gastronomic contradiction of the state- 
ment. The cattle trains are getting so large that 
we find difiiculty in driving them along. Thanks- 
giving Day was very generally observed in the 
army; the troops scorning chickens in the plen- 
titude of turkeys with which they had supplied 
themselves. 

SUPPLIES ABUNDANT. 

Vegetables of all kinds, and in unlimited quan- 
tities, were at hand, and the soldiers gave thanks 
as soldiers may, and were merry as soldiers can 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 329 

be. In truth, so far as the gratification of the 
stomach goes, the troops are pursuing a continuous 
thanksgiving. 

In addition to fowls, vegetables and meats, many 
obtain a delicious syrup made from sorghum, which 
is cultivated on all the plantations, and stored away 
in large troughs and hogsheads. The mills here 
and there furnish fresh supplies of flour and meal, 
and we hear little or nothing of " hard-tack," that 
terror to weak mastication. Over the sections of 
country lately traversed I find very little culti- 
vation of cotton. The commands of Davis appear 
to have been obeyed; and our large droves of 
cattle are turned nightly into the immense fields of 
ungathered corn to eat their fill, while the granaries 
are crowded to overflowing with both oats and 
corn. 

We have also reached the sand regions, so that 
the fall of rain has no terrors ; the roads are ex- 
cellent, and would become firmer from a liberal 
wetting. The rise of the river will not bother us 
much, for each army corps has its pontoons, and 
the launching of its boats is the matter of an hour. 

THE COUNTRY PEOPLE 

all through this section were found to be extremely 
ignorant. Rich men there are, whose plantations 
line the roads for miles ; men and women who own, 
or did own, hundreds of slaves, and raised every 



330 MAJ GEIi". % T. SHERMAN, 

year their thousand bales of cotton; but their 
ignorance is only equalled by that twin sister of 
ignorance, intolerance. I can understand, as I 
never did before, why it was that a few persons, 
who every year represented the South in Congress, 
were able to wield that influence as a unit. Many 
of the people claim to have been Unionists from 
the beginning of the war. It seems hard, some- 
times, to strip such men as clear of all eatables as 
do our troops, who have the art cultivated to the 
most eminent degree ; but, as Gen. Sherman often 
says to them : " If it is true that you are Unionists, 
you should not have permitted Jeff. Davis to 
dragoon you, until you are as much his slaves as 
once the niggers were yours." 

Gen. Sherman invites all able-bodied negroes 
(others could not make the march,) to join the 
column, and he takes especial pleasure when they 
join the procession, on some occasions telling them 
they are free ; that Massa Lincoln has given them 
their liberty, and that they can go where they 
please ; that if they earn their freedom they should 
have it ; but that Massa Lincoln has given it to 
them anyhow. Thousands of negro women join 
the column, some carrying household truck ; others, 
and many of them there are, who bear the heavy 
burden of children in their arms, while older boys 
and girls plod by their sides. All these women 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 331 

and children are ordered back, heart-rending though 
it may be to refuse them liberty. 

But the majority accept the advent of the 
Yankees, as the fulfillment of the millennial proph- 
ecies. The " day of jubilee," the hope and prayer 
of a lifetime, has come. They cannot be made to 
understand that they must remain behind, and they 
are satisfied only when General Sherman tells them 
— as he does every day — that we shall come back 
for them some time, and that they must be patient 
until the proper hour of deliverance comes. 

THE MARCH TO THE OGEECHEE. 

Nov. 29, Near Johnson's, on the South \ 
Side op the G-eorgia Railroad, j 

We have not heard from the army on the north 
side of the railroad since it left us at Sandersville ; 
nor from Kilpatrick until to-day, and then indi- 
rectly through a negro, who reports that the son of 
his master rode all the way from Louisville in great 
haste, reporting that Wheeler was fighting the 
Yankees, who were advancing on Augusta. Gen- 
eral Sherman's second step in this campaign will 
have been equally successful with the first, if he is 
able to cross the Ogeechee to-morrow without much 
opposition. Davis' and Kilpatrick's movement has 
been a blind, in order to facilitate the passage over 
the Ogeechee of the main body of the army, which 



332 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

for two days past lias been marching on parallel 
roads south of the railroad. 

Thus far we have reason to believe that the rebels 
are ignorant of our principal movement, and are 
trembling with the fear that Augusta is our 
objective. 

Kilpatrick is doing the same work which he 
accomplished with such high honor when cover- 
ing our right flank in the early days of the cam- 
paign. His column now acts as a curtain upon 
the extreme left, through which the enemy may in 
vain attempt to penetrate. He has a yet grander 
aim in view. If he succeeds, his name will not 
only stand at the head of our great cavalry gen- 
erals, but it will be uttered with the prayers and 
blessings of the wives and children of the prisoners 
whom he may liberate at Millen, which is the point 
he aims for, and where have been incarcerated 
many thousands of our brave comrades. Kil- 
patrick started on the same day that our army left 
Milledgeville, the 25th instant. 

ON THE MARCH. 

All day long the army has been marching 
through magnificent pine woods — the savannahs 
of the South, as they are termed. I have never 
seen, and I can't conceive, a more picturesque 
sight than the army winding along through these 
grand old woods. The pines rise, naked of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 333 

branches, eighty and ninety feet, and then are 
crowned with a tuft of pure green. The trees are 
wide apart, so that frequently two trains of wagons 
and troops in double columns are marching abreast. 
In the distance may be seen a troop of horsemen, 
some general and his staff, turning about, here and 
there, their gay uniforms and red and white flags 
contrasting harmoniously with the bright, yellow 
grass underneath and the deep evergreen. War 
has its romance and its pleasures, and nothing 
could be more delightful, nor can there be more 
beautiful subjects for the artist's pencil than a 
thousand sights which have met my eye for days 
past, and which can never be seen outside the 
army. 

Station on Georgia Central Railroad, 1 
Wednesday, November 30th, 1864. J 

With the exception of the Fifteenth Corps, our 
army is across the Ogeechee, and without fighting 
a battle This river is a line of great strength to 
the rebfls, and they might have made its passage 
a costly effort for us, but they have been outwitted 
and outmanoeuvred. I am more convinced than 
ever that if General Sherman intends taking his 
army to the seaboard, it is evidently his policy to 
avoid a battle, or any contest which will delay him 
in the establishment of a new base of operations 
ami supplies; if he is able to establish this new 



334 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

base, and at the same time destroy all the lines of 
communication from the rebel armies, with the 
great cities, so that they will be as much isolated 
as if those strongholds were in our hands, he will 
have accomplished the greatest strategic victory 
in the war, and all the more welcome because 
bloodless. 

We have heard to-day from Kilpatrick and from 
Millen. Kilpatrick made a splendid march, fighting 
all the way to Waynesboro, destroying the railroad 
bridge crossing Briar Creek, between Augusta and 
Millen. It is with real grief that I write he was 
unable to accomplish the release of our pri oners. 
It appears that for some time past the rebels have 
been removing our soldiers from Millen; the 
officers have been sent to Columbia, S. C, and the 
privates further south, somewhere on the Gulf 
Railroad. 

THE PASSAGE OF THE 0GEECHEE. 

We have had very little difficulty in crossing the 
Ogeechee. The Twentieth Corps moved down the 
railroad, destroying it to the bridge. The Sev- 
enteenth Corps covered the river at this point, 
where a light bridge was only partially destroyed. 
It was easily repaired, so that the infantry and 
cavalry could pass over it, while the wagons and 
artillery used the pontoons. The Ogeechee is about 
sixty yards in width at this point. It is approached 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 335 

on the northern or western side through swamps, 
which would be impassable were it not for the sandy 
soil which packs solid when the water covers the 
roads, although in places there are treacherous 
quicksands which we are obliged to corduroy. 

This evening I walked down to the river. A 
novel and vivid sight was it to see the fires of pitch 
pine flaring up into the mist and darkness, the 
figures of men and horses looming out of the dense 
shadows in gigantic proportions. Torchlights are 
blinking and flashing away off in the forests, while 
the still air echoed and reechoed with the cries of 
the teamsters and the wild shouts of the soldiers. 
A long line of the troops marched across the front 
bridge, each soldier bearing a torch ; their light 
reflected in quivering lines in the swift running 
stream. 

IN A FOG. 

Soon the fog, which settles like a blanket over 
the swamps and forests of the river bottoms, shut 
down upon the scene, and so dense and dark was 
it, that torches were of but little use, and men were 
directed here and there by the voice. 

AN ORIGINAL CHARACTER. 

At this station we came across an old man named 
Wells, who was the most original character I ever 
met. He was depot-master in the days when there 
was a railroad here. He is a shrewd old man, and 



330 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

seemed to understand the merits of the war 
question perfectly. He said : 

" They say you are retreating, but it is the 
strangest sort of a retreat I ever saw. Why, dog 
bite them, the newspapers have been lying in this 
way all along. They allers are whipping the Fed- 
eral armies, and they allers fall back after the battle 
is over. It was that ar' idee that first opened my 
eyes. Our army war allers whipping the Feds, and 
we allers fell back. I allers told 'em it was a d — d 

humbug, and now by I know it, for here you 

are right on old John Wells' place ; hogs, potatoes, 
corn and fences all gone. I don't find any fault. 
I expected it all." 

"Jeff. Davis and the rest," he continued, "talk 
about splitting the Union. Why if South Caro- 
lina had gone out by herself, she would have been 
split in four pieces by this time. Splitting the 
Union! Why d — n it, the State of Georgia is 
being split right through from end to end. It is 
these rich fellows who are making this war, and 
keeping their precious bodies out of harm's way. 
There's John Franklin went through here the other 
day, running away from your army. I could have 
played dominoes on his coat tails. There's my 
poor brother, sick with small-pox at Macon, work- 
ing for eleven dollars a month, and hasn't got a 
cent of the d — d stuff for a year. 'Leven dollars 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 337 

a month and eleven thousand bullets a minute. 

I don't believe in it, sir. 

" My wife came from Canada, and I kind o' 

thought I would sometime go there to live, but was 

allers afraid of the ice and cold ; but I can tell you 

this country is getting too cussed hot for me. Look 

at my fence rails burning there. I think I can 

stand the cold better. 

" I heard as how they cut down the trees across 
your road, up country, and burn the bridges ; why, 

( dog bite their hides ! ) one of your Yankees can 

take up a tree and carry it off, tops and all ; and 

there's that bridge you put across the river in less 

than two hours — they might as well try to stop 

the Ogeechee as you Yankees. 

" The blasted rascals who burnt this yere bridge 
thought they did a big thing ; a natural born fool 
cut in two had more sense in either end than any 
of them. 

"To bring back the good old times," he said, 
" it'll take the help of Divine Providence, a heap of 
rain, and a deal of elbow grease, to fix things up 
again." 

Sherman's manoeuvres. 

Scarboro', Ga., December 3. 

Pivoted upon Millen, the army has swung slowly 
round from its eastern course, and is now moving 
in six columns upon parallel roads southward. 

rvk 



338 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Until yesterday it was impossible for the rebels to 
decide whether or not it was General Sherman's 
intention to march upon Augusta. Kilpatrick had 
destroyed the bridge above Waynesboro, and, fall- 
ing back, had again advanced, supported by the 
Fourteenth Army Corps, under General Davis. 
South of this column, moving eastward through 
Birdsvillc, was the Twentieth Corps, commanded 
by General Slocum. Yet, further south, the Seven- 
teenth Corps, General Blair in command, followed 
the railroad, destroying it as he advanced. West 
and south of the Ogeechee the Fifteenth Corps, 
General Osterhaus in immediate command, but 
under the eye of General Howard, has moved in 
two columns. 

Until now Davis and Kilpatrick have been a 
cover and shield to the real movements. At no 
time has it been possible for Hardee to interpose 
any serious obstacle to the advance of the main 
body of our army, for our left wing has always been 
a strong arm thrust out in advance, ready to put in 
chancery any force which might attempt to get 
within its reach. 

The rebel councils of war appear to have been 
completely deceived, for we hear it reported that 
Bragg and Longstreet are at Augusta, with 10,000 
men, made up of militia, two or three South Caro- 
lina regiments, and a portion of Hampton's Legion, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 339 

sent there for one month. It is possible, now, that 
the curtain has been withdrawn, and as it may ap- 
pear that we are marching straight for Savannah, 
their generals, with their ten thousand, may attempt 
to harass our rear; but they can accomplish noth- 
ing but the loss of a few lives, without checking our 
progress. 

The work so admirably performed by our left 
wing, so far as to oblige the rebels in our front con- 
stantly to retreat, by threatening their rear, now 
becomes the office of the Fifteenth Corps, our 
right wing on the right bank of the river. Its two 
columns are moving one day's march in advance 
of the main body of the army, marching down the 
peninsula between the Savannah and Ogeechee 
Rivers. The necessity and value of these flank 
movements, first of the right wing with Kilpatrick's 
cavalry, then of Davis and Kilpatrick on the left, 
and now of Howard on our right, is because we 
cannot run over and demolish any and all the rebel 
forces in Georgia. They could not for a moment 
stand before this army upon any ordinary battle- 
ground, but a very small force of infantry and cav- 
alry at a river could delay a column half a day, and 
perhaps longer, and as our soldiers have got tired 
of chickens, sweet potatoes, sorghum, &c, and have 
been promised oysters on the half shell, oysters 



340 

roasted, stewed, &c, in short, oysters, they don't 
caie to be delayed. 

The railroad, which has been receiving our im- 
mediate attention within the last week, is altogther 
the best we have seen in the State, though the rail 
itself is not so heavy as the T rail on the Augusta 
and Atlanta Road. 

We daily traverse immense corn fields, covering 
from one hundred to one thousand acres. These 
were once devoted to the cultivation of cotton, and 
it is surprising to see how the planters have carried 
out the orders or wishes of the rebel government 
in this respect. There has been a large amount of 
cotton destroyed in this campaign, but it must have 
been but a small portion even of the limited crop 
raised, as the destruction has chiefly been away 
from the railroads. As near as we can learn, two- 
thirds of the cotton has been sent over the Georgia 
Central Eailroad to Augusta by way of Millen ; 
from thence a limited amount has been transported 
to Wilmington for trans-Atlantic shipment; the 
balance yet remains in the vicinity of Columbia, 
South Carolina . 

One thing is most certain, neither the West nor 
the East will draw any supplies from the counties in 
this State traversed by our army for a long time 
to come ; our work has been the next thing to 
annihilation. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 341 

CONCENTRATION AT OGEECHBE — A FItfHT. 

Ogeechee Church, December 6. 

The army for two days past has been concentrat- 
ing at this point, which is the narrowest part of the 
peninsula. General Howard is still on the west 
side of the Ogeechee, but is within supporting dis- 
tance, and has ample means of crossing the river 
should it be necessary, which is not at all probable. 
Kilpatrick has again done noble work. On Sun- 
day last, while marching toward Alexander, for the 
purpose of more thoroughly completing the de- 
struction of the railroad bridge crossing Briar 
Creek, we found Wheeler on his way near Waynes- 
boro. He fought him several times, punishing 
him severely in each instance, driving his infantry 
and cavalry before him through Waynesboro and 
beyond the bridge, which was completely destroy- 
ed. He rejoined the main body of our army then 
marching southward. 

A significant feature of this campaign, which has 
not before been mentioned in this diary, received a 
marked illustration yesterday. Except in a few 
instances, private residences have not been de- 
stroyed. Yesterday we passed the plantation of a 
Mr. Stubbs. The house, cotton-gin, press, corn- 
ricks, stables, everything was in flames, and in the 
dooryard lay the the dead bodies of several blood- 
hounds, that had been used to track and pull down 



342 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

negroes and our escaped prisoners. And wherever 
our army has passed, everything in the shape of a 
dog has been killed. The soldiers and officers are 
determined that no more flying fugitives, white 
men or negroes, shall be followed by track hounds 
that come within reach of their powder and ball. 
the army further south. 

December 8. 
The army has been advancing slowly and surely, 
but as cautiously as if a strong army were in our 
front. The relative position of the troops has not 
materially changed since last writing, except that 
we are all further South. From fifteen to twenty 
miles lies Savannah, it is to be supposed, in some 
perturbation at the certainty of our approach. If 
the rebels intend fighting in defence of the city, it 
will be behind their fortifications, for as yet we 
have only skirmished with parties of cavalry, and 
they have not seen the head of our infantry column. 

A BOLD MOVEMENT. 

General Howard has just returned from a very 
successful movement. Fearing that we should de- 
tach a force for the purpose of destroying the Gulf 
Road, which they are using to its utmost capacity 
just now, they pushed a force across the Ogeechee. 
While this body were covered by a strong riverside 
line, General Corse, of Altoona memory, shoved 
his division between the Little and Great Ogeechee, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 343 

thirteen miles in advance of the main columns to 
the canal, which runs from the Ogeechee to the Sa- 
vannah River. He bridged the canal, crossed it 
with his division, and now holds a position out of 
which Hood's army could not drive him. 

This bold step had forced the rebels to evacuate 
the line of works stretching from river to river, 
and they have now fairly sought refuge in the 
fortifications proper of Savannah. 

HEARING THE SIGNAL GUNS OF THE GUNBOATS. 

All the afternoon we have heard the signal guns 
of our gunboats, supposed to be in Ossabaw Sound. 
My heart thrills with gladness to think that we are 
within speaking distance of our brethren of the 
brave navy, and that we are hereafter to act in 
unison with, we hope, more purpose than has been 
the result with most expeditions on the Atlantic 
coast. The next three days promises to be full of 
interest, for we shall now seek to establish a base 
in connection with our fleet. 

closing in upon savannah. 

December 9. 

We are gradually closing in upon the city. 
General Howard holds the position gained on the 
other side of the canal yesterday, and has advanced 
the larger part of his command in its support. 
Portions of our army are now within eight miles of 
Savannah. General Blair's column lost several 



844 

officers and men, some of them by honorable fight 
ing, as the rebels withstood the advance with 
pertinacity. 

One officer and several men were severely 
wounded by the explosion of shells and torpedoes 
buried and concealed in the road, which was an 
attempt at cowardly murder. The prisoners were 
marched over the road, and removed two of these 
treacherous, death-dealing instruments. 

General Davis is to-night at Cherokee Hill, hav- 
ing crossed the Charleston Road, partially destroy- 
ing the bridge spanning the Savannah. He has 
also been opposed by the rebels, but, as with the 
other columns, the opposition only accelerated the 
progress of the troops, who hurry forward on the 
double-quick at the sound of the guns, eager to 
get into the fight. To-morrow we may expect 
to have concentrated our army so as to form a 
continuous line about the city. 

strong lines of rebel works. 

December 10. 
The army has advanced some six miles to-day, 
and have everywhere a strong line of works, which 
appear to be held by a large force ; with 32-pound 
guns in position, their line, although extended, is 
more easily defended, because of a succession of 
impassable swamps, which stretch across the pen- 
insula. All the openings between these morasses 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 345 

<a,ncl the roads which lead through them, are strong- 
ly fortified, and the approaches have heen contested 
vigorously, but with little loss to us. General 
Sherman seems to avoid the sacrifice of life, and I 
doubt his making any serious attack until he has 
communication with the fleet. 

We have connected our lines, so that the corps 
are within supporting distance of each other. The 
soldiers are, meanwhile, in most cheerful spirits, 
with that insousciance which is the most charac- 
teristic feature of our troops. 

capture of poet mcallister. 

December 13. 

At Fort McAllister. To-day I have been a spec- 
tator of one of those glorious sights where the 
actors, passing through the most fearful ordeal of 
fire which befalls the soldier, come out successful, 
and are always after heroes. 

The Second division of the Fifteenth Corps have 
marched to-day fifteen miles ; and, without the as- 
sistance of artillery, have crossed an open space of 
six hundred yards, under a fierce fire of twenty- 
one heavy guns, crawling through a thick abatis, 
crossed a ditch of great depth, at whose bottom 
were driven thick palisades, torn them away, 
surmounted the crest and palisades, shot and 
bayoneted the gunners, who refused to surrender, 
at their posts, and planted the stars and stripes 



346 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

upon the work in triumph. The assault was made 
with a single line, which approached the fort from 
all sides but that of the river, at the same instant, 
never for an instant wavering, no man lurking 
shelter, but facing the fire manfully. 

The explosion of torpedoes at this point did not 
deter them. General Sherman's old division and 
corps had been told that he had said, " Carry the 
place by assault to-night, if possible." They re- 
solved to fulfill their old commander's wish, and 
they did it. Perhaps in the history of this war 
there has not been a more striking example of the 
evidence of quick, determined action. Had we 
waited, put up intrenchments, shelled the place, 
and made the usual approaches, we should have 
lost many more lives, and time Avas invaluable. 
As it is, our entire loss is not more than ninety 
men killed and wounded, and we have gained a 
necessity — a base of supplies. Our whole army 
are eager to emulate such a glorious example, and 
this esprit du corps has been raised to the grandest 
height. 

General Sherman did not feel that his march to 
the sea was completed until Savannah was captured. 
That city fell, as Jericho of old did, without resis- 
tance. Its gates were opened, and the conqueror 
marched in. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 347 

After the capture of Fort McAllister, Sherman 
began the systematic investment of the city. The 
enemy made the best use of every natural advan- 
tage against us. The rice fields below the city 
were flooded by means of the canals, rendering an 
advance from that quarter difficult. The swamps 
north and west were perplexing barriers. These 
were difliculties only in the way of an assault. Our 
lines, however, were greatly annoyed in the gradual 
approach by torpedoes, which the enemy had inge- 
niously disposed. They were so perfectly covered 
as to be almost unnoticeable, and so arranged that 
the slightest pressure of the foot upon the small 
plug sufficed to explode them. 

This danger Sherman overcome, by ordering the 
rebel prisoners in his bands to go before our ad- 
vancing lines, find the torpedoes, and dig them up 
— dig up the death traps which perhaps their own 
hands had planted. 

The investment of the city was as complete as 
it could be made by the 20th of December. Every 
outlet of the city was completely in our possession, 
except the causeway just below Hutchinson's 
Island, and every effort was made to secure that. 

On the morning of the 20th of December, Sher- 
man sent by flag of truce his demand for the sur- 
render of the city, closing his dispatch with the 
words of General Hood, in his demand for the 



343 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

surrender of Dalton and the negro troops: "If 
this demand is not complied with, I shall take no 
prisoners." Of course this was intended as irony 
on the part of Sherman. 

General Hardee, in his reply, boasted that he had 
men and supplies enough to hold the city, and that 
he would not surrender. 

Arrangements were completed for the assault 
and bombardment. Even the guns of the enemy 
which had been captured with the surrounding 
forts, had been removed and placed in position to 
aid us in the attack. 

General Hardee anticipated the assault, and on 
the night of the 20th evacuated, passing over the 
Union Causeway under the protection of his iron- 
clads and the batteries of the lower end of Hutchin- 
son's Island. The rear guard of the fugitives fired 
the navy-yard, and the iron-clads were blown up. 

On the following morning, December 21st 1864, 
the beautiful city of Savannah was surrendered by 
the mayor and council of the city, with the request 
that private property and the rights of citizens 
should be respected. 

Thus ended the most remarkable march in the 
annals of history. European journals, and among 
these the London Times admit that the march of 
Sherman from Chattanooga to Savannah, is abso- 
lutely without a parallel. " As the pilgrims landed 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 349 

and sent liberty and a glorious form of nationality 
Westward, along their northern lines of march, so 
the West sounded back to the ocean again that sub- 
lime hymn of universal freedom which our fathers 
sung on Plymouth Rock, when they dedicated this 
continent to God." 

This wonderful march, and those who took part 
in it, will be remembered. The pen of the his- 
torian and the lays of the minstrel will keep this 
great event fresh in the memory of men. Even 
now and thus beautifully, has this story been woven 
into verse : 

SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA. 

Our camp-fires shone bright on the mountain 

That frowned on the river below, 
While we stood by our guns in the morning, 

And eagerly watched for the foe, 
When a rider came out from the darkness 

That hung over mountain and tree, 
And shouted, "Boys up and be ready, 

For Sherman will march to the sea." 

When cheer upon cheer for bold Sherman 

Went up from each valley and glen, 
And the bugle reechoed the music 

That came from the lips of the men ; 
For we know that the stars on our banner 

More bright in their splendor would be, 
And that blessing from North-land would greet us 

As Sherman marched down to the sea. 



D* 



350 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Then forward, boys, forward, to battle, 

We marched on our wearisome way, 
And we strewed the wild hills of Resaca — 

God bless those who fell on that day. 
Then Kenesaw, dark in its glory, 

Frowned down on the flag of the free: 
But the East and the West bore our standard 

As Sherman marched down to the sea. 

Still onward we pressed till our banner 

Swept out from Atlanta's grim walls, 
And the blood of the patriot dampened 

The soil where the traitor's flag falls. 
But we paused not to weep for the fallen 

Who slept by each river and tree ; 
Yet we twined them wreaths of the laurel 

As Sherman marched down to the sea. 

Proud, proud was our army that morning, 

That stood by the cypress and pine, 
When Sherman said : " Boys, you are weary 

This day fair Savannah is thine." 
Then sang we a song for our chieftain 

That echoed o'er river and lea, 
And the stars on our banner shone brighter 

When Sherman marched down to the sea. 

After the escape of General Hardee with hie 
13,000 troops, and the surrender by the mayor o± 
the city, our army marched in, to the evident de- 
light of the citizens. In numerous instances men 
and women looked upon the old flag and wept, 
and some hailed it with lively demonstrations of 

joy. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 351 

The fruits of the capture were as follows : The 
city; all its fortifications intact, with the adjoining 
rivers and harbors; about 1,200 prisoners; 152 
guns; 38,000 bales of cotton; large quantities of am- 
munition and rice ; thirteen locomotives, and 200 
railroad cars. The forts captured were McAllister, 
on the Ogeechee; Lawton and Lee, on the Savannah 
River, near the city, and Jackson, on the river, two 
miles below the city. 

With the following orders of General Sherman, 
and one or two short extracts from correspondence, 
we close this chapter : 

SHERMAN'S CONGRATULATORY ORDER TO HIS ARMY. 

Head-Quarters Military Division op the Mississippi, 1 
In the Field, Savannah, Ga., January 8. J 

Special Field Orders No. 6. 

The general commanding announces to the troops composing 
the Military Division of the Mississippi, that he has received 
from the President of the United States and from Lieutenant 
General Grant, letters conveying the high sense and appreciation 
of the campaign just closed, resulting in the capture of Savannah 
and the defeat of Hood's army in Tennessee. 

In order that all may understand the importance of events, it is 
proper to revert to the situation of affairs in September last. We 
held Atlanta, a city of little value to us, but so important to the 
enemy that Mr. Davis, the head of the rebellious faction in the 
South, visited his army near Palmetto, and commanded it to re- 
gain it, as well as to ruin and destroy us by a series of measures 
which he thought would be effectual. 

That army, by a rapid march, first gained our railroad near 
Big Shanty, and afterward about Dalton. We pursued, but it 



352 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

marched so rapidly that we could not overtake it, and General 
Hood led his army successfully far toward Mississippi, in hopes 
to decoy us out of Georgia. But we were not then to be led 
away by him, and purposed to control and lead events ourselves. 
Generals Thomas and Schofield, commanding the department to 
Our rear, returned to their posts, and prepared to decoy General 
Hood into their meshes, while we came on to complete our original 
journey. 

We quietly and deliberately destroyed Atlanta and all the rail- 
roads which the enemy had used to carry on war against us; occu- 
pied his State capital, and then captured his commercial capital, 
which had been so strongly fortified from the sea as to defy 
approach from that quarter. 

Almost at the moment of our victorious entry into Savannah 
came the welcome and expected news that our comrades in Ten- 
nessee had also fulfilled, nobly and well, their part ; had decoyed 
General Hood to Nashville, and then turned on him, defeating his 
army thoroughly, capturing all his artillery, great numbers of 
prisoners, and were still pursuing the fragments down into Ala- 
bama. So complete a success in military operations, extending 
over half a continent, is an achievement that entitles it to a place 
in the military history of the world. 

The armies serving in Georgia and Tennessee, as well as the 
local garrisons of Decatur, Bridgeport, Chattanooga and Murfrees- 
boro, are alike entitled to the common honor, and each regi- 
ment may inscribe on its colors at pleasure the words "Savannah" 
or "Nashville." 

The general commanding embraces in the same general success 
the operations of the cavalry column, under Generals Stoneman, 
Burbridge and Gillem, that penetrated into Southwestern Vir- 
ginia, and paralyzed the efforts of the enemy to disturb the 
peace and safety of the people of East Tennessee. Instead of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 353 

being put on the defensive, we have, at all times, assumed the 
bold offensive, and completely thwarted the designs of the enemi^ 
of our country. By order of 

Major General W. T. SHERMAN. 
L. W. Dayton, Aide-de Camp. 

REGULATIONS BY GENERAL SHERMAN. 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, \ 
In the Field, Savannah, Ga., January 14. / 

It being represented that the Confederate army and armed 
bands of robbers, acting professedly under the authority of the 
Confederate government, are harassing the people of Georgia, 
and endeavoring to intimidate them in the efforts they are making 
to secure to themselves provisions, clothing, security to life and 
property, and the restoration of law and good government in the 
State, it is hereby ordered and made public : 

First. That the farmers of Georgia may bring into Savannah, 
Fernandina or Jacksonville, Fla., marketing, such as beef, pork, 
mutton, vegetables of any kind, fish, &c, as well as cotton in 
small quantities, and sell the same in open market, except the 
cotton, which must be sold by or through the Treasury agents, 
and may invest the proceeds in family stores, such as bacon and 
flour, in any reasonable quantities, groceries, shoes and clothing, 
and articles not contraband of war, and carry the same back to 
their families. No trade store will be attempted in the interior, 
or stocks of goods sold for them, but families may club together 
for mutual assistance and protection in coming and going. 

Second. The people are encouraged to meet together in peace- 
ful assemblages to discuss measures looking to their safety and 
good government, and the restoration of State and National 
authority, and will be protected by the National Army, when so 
doing ; and all peaceable inhabitants who satisfy the commanding 
officers that they are earnestly laboring to that end must not 
only be left undi»*«irbed in property and person, but must be 



354 

protected as far as possible consistent with the military opera 
tions. If any farmer or peaceable inhabitant is molested by the 
enemy — viz: the Confederate army of guerrillas — because of 
his friendship to the National Government, the perpetrator, if 
caught, will be summarily punished, or his family made to suffer 
for the outrage ; bufc if the crime cannot be traced to the actual 
party, then retaliation will be made on the adherents to the 
cause of the rebellion. Should a Union man be murdered, then 
a rebel selected by lot will be shot : or if a Union family be per- 
secuted on account of the cause, a rebel family will be banished 
to a foreign land. In aggravated cases, retaliation will extend as 
high as five for one. All commanding officers will act promptly 
in such cases, and report their action after the retaliation ye 
done. By order of 

Major General W. T. SHERMAN. 

L. W. Datton, Assistant Adjutant General. 

RECEPTION OF THE UNION ARMY. 

Beyond all question, the Union army lias been 
more cordially received in Savannah than in any 
other place which has fallen into our hands. 

The city contains about 25,000 inhabitants. 
Several thousand refugees are at present residing 
there. A large class of the population will be 
entirely dependent upon the Federal authorities for 
food, and doubtless until some plan of caring for 
them can be set in operation, considerable suffer- 
ing will occur. A few days, however, will suffice 
to bring up all needed supplies both for the army 
and any civilians whom the authorities may see fit 
to aid. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 355 

DESCRIPTION OF THE CITY. 

Savannah, as all readers know, is on the south 
side of the river bearing its name, and eighteen 
miles from the sea. The general level of the city 
is some forty-five ft et above the water. It is regu- 
larly laid out, the streets are very broad and hand- 
somely shaded, while the extensive private yards, 
and the great number of parks and public squares, 
give to the place the aspect of an infinite succession 
of suburban residences. It is one of the most 
beautiful cities in the country. A tropical air is 
thrown over it all by the character of the trees, 
flowers and shrubs. Few trees are selected for the 
streets and yards that are not evergreen, and flow- 
ers in endless variety greeted our Northern boys. 
Live oaks, magnolias, orange and bay trees are to 
be seen everywhere. In some of the streets four 
rows of trees are planted, forming leaf-arched ave- 
nues across the entire city, two for carriage;! on 
each side of the way, and a splendid promenade in 
the centre. Many of these are huge forest trees, 
while all are large, and' the effect is most impres- 
sive. There are many very elegant public build- 
ings, and there is little of that decayed look which 
the war has brought over most of the Southern 
cities. 

Among the finest public buildings are the Cus- 
tom House and the Exchange, the Armory and 



356 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

State Arsenal, St. John's and the Independent 
Presbyterian Churches. There is a large and 
valuable collection of works in the State Historical 
Society, and the same is true of the Public Library. 

REVOLUTIONARY REMAINS. 

These are numerous, and excite strange emo- 
tions. An elegant monument stands in Chippewa 
Square, erected to the memory of Pulaski, who fell 
in the attack upon the city, when it was held by the 
British in 1779. 

In Monument Square there is a beautiful Doric 
obelisk designed to commemorate the deeds of 
Greene and Pulaski. General Lafayette laid the 
corner stone of this structure in 1825. The base 
of the pedestal is ten feet by seven, and about 
twelve feet high. The shaft surmounting this is 
about forty feet high. 

Mounds and ditches still remain near the swamp 
southeast of the city, and a fort built by General 
Greene can still be traced. Tatnall's tomb is in 
the cemetery of Bonaventure, and many of the sol- 
diers of that olden time are mouldering there 
with him. If such ground could be cursed, how 
deep the stain which would rest upon it from all 
the traitor graves which now mar the beauty of 
the spot ! Sleeping side by side are those who bled 
to establish our Government, and those who have 
died seeking its overthrow. Yet the flag that 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 857 

waved over those old forts when the nation's life 
began, floats above them again, the earnest of a 
nobler life, dawning even now. The flag that 
Greene loved, and which Pulaski looked upon 
while dying, and which floated over Tatnall's 
ships, Sherman's men, from their far off Western 
homes, have borne across a continent and set it up 
again on the fields of its old renown. It shall 
wave there long after traitors have received their 
merited reward of infamy. 

BONAVENTURE. 

This cemetery, situated near Fort Jackson, is a 
most wonderful spot. Originally it was a private 
estate, laid out with great taste, and well stocked 
with shade trees and ornamental shrubs. These 
trees now form shaded avenues miles in extent, 
and hung, as they are, so thickly with the long 
gray moss, they look as if 

"Eternity had snowed its years upon them, 
And the white winter of their age had come." 

Yet through these marks of age the greenness 
of perpetual spring smiles constantly, even as the 
glory of the Resurrection outshines the dimness of 
the graves of the sleepers below. There are walks 
here that remind one of the Bosphorus, with its 
cypress and its gloom. There are bright groves 
of orange and bay, brilliant flowers and birds of 



358 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

golden plumage and sweet song. The far-off mur- 
mur of the sea is ever faintly heard ; birds do not 
cease to sing or flowers to bloom. Here nature 
never dies, and were it not for man's decay we 
might almost imagine that our footsteps were 
leading us over the beautiful walks of Paradise. 

GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE BRITISH CONSUL AT 
SAVANNAH. 

[Washington Correspondence of the New York Herald.] 

On the arrival of General Sherman at Savannah, 
he saw a large number of British flags displayed 
from buildings, and had q. curiosity to know how 
many British consuls there were there. He soon 
ascertained that these flags were on buildings 
where cotton had been stored away, and at once 
ordered it to be seized. Soon after that, while the 
general was busily engaged at his head-quarters, a 
pompous gentleman walked in, apparently in great 
haste, and inquired if he was General Sherman? 
Having received an affirmative reply, the pompous 
gentleman remarked, " that when he left his resi- 
dence the United States troops were engaged in 
removing his cotton from it, where it was protected 
by the British flag." 

" Stop, sir," said General Sherman ; " not your 
cotton, sir, but my cotton ; my cotton in the name 
of the United States Government, sir. I have 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 359 

noticed," continued General Sherman, " a great 
many British flags here, all protecting cotton. I 
have seized it all in the name of my Government." 

" But sir," said the consul, indignantly, " there 
is scarcely any cotton in Savannah that does not 
belong to me." 

" There is not a pound of cotton here, sir, that 
does not belong to me, for the United States," 
responded Sherman. 

"Well, sir," said the consul, swelling himself 
up with the dignity of his office, and reddening in 
bis face, "my Government shall hear of this. I 
snail report your conduct to my Government, sir." 

"Ah ! pray, who are you, sir ? " said the general. 

" Consul to Her British Majesty, sir." 

" Oh! indeed !" responded the general. "I hope 
you will report me to your Government. You will 
please say to your Government, for me, that I have 
been fighting the English Government all the way 
from the Ohio River to Vicksburg, and thence to 
this point. At every step I have encountered 
British arms, and British goods of every descrip- 
tion, at every step, sir. I have met them, sir, in all 
shapes ; and now, sir, I find you claiming all the 
cotton, sir. I intend to call upon my Government 
to order me to Nassau at once." 

"What do you propose to do there ?" asked the 
Consul, somewhat taken aback. 



360 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

" I would," replied the general, " take with me 
a quantity of picks and shovels, and throw that 
cursed sand hill into the sea, sir. You may tell 
your Government that, sir. I would shovel it into 
the sea, sir; and then I would pay for it, sir — if 
necessary. Good day, sir." 

It is needless to add that General Sherman was 
not again troubled with the officious representative 
of Her Majesty's Government 



CHAPTER XIV. 

SHERMAN'S CAMPAIGN IN THE CAROLINAS. 

I THE CONSUMMATION OF THE GREAT PLAN — MOVEMENTS 
OF THE TWO WINGS OF THE ARMY UNDER HOWARD AND 

' SLOCUM TRANSFER OF THE FORTS AND CITY TO GEN. 

FOSTER CAPTURE OF FORT FISHER BY PORTER AND 

| TERRY DETERMINATION OF SHERMAN STRATEGY AT 

THE SALKEHATCHIE WADING THROUGH DEEP WATER 

— PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY TO BRANCHVILLE DE- 
STRUCTION OF THE RAILROAD — OFFICIAL REPORT OF 

SHERMAN RESULT OF THE CAMPAIGN FALL OF 

CHARLESTON — HORRORS OF THE EVACUATION — IN- 
CIDENTS. 

This campaign may be called the climax of this 
colossal war. Heretofore we have spoken of the 
campaigns from Chattanooga to Atlanta, and from 
Atlanta to Savannah. The truth is, they were but 
parts of one great whole. The movement of Sher- 
man, which commenced on the 1st day of May, 

1864, and ended with the surrender of Johnston's 
army and all the Confederate forces from the Chat- 
tahoochee to the Potomac on the 26th day of April, 

1865, extending through almost an entire year, was 
but one campaign ; was but the carrying out of 

E* 



362 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the plan of Sherman when he marched from Chat- 
tanooga; a campaign that has no parallel in the 
annals of history. 

And now, in leading the reader through the final 
part of this most wonderful campaign, we can do 
nothing more than give to him its great outlines. 
In doing this, and for the sake of recording nothing 
but veritable history, we will follow somewhat 
closely the official report of General Sherman, 
adding to parts of it interesting details and 
incidents therein omitted. 

Less than one month was consumed at Savannah 
in making proper dispositions of captured property 
and other local matters, and in preparations for the 
march E"orth through the " sacred soil of South 
Carolina." 

By the 15th of January, 1865, Sherman and his 
splendid army were ready for the march. Pre- 
liminary to this, General Howard, commanding the 
right wing, was ordered to embark his forces at 
Thunderbolt; transport them to Beaufort, and 
thence by the 15th of January, make a lodgment 
on the Charleston Railroad at Pocotaligo. This 
was accomplished punctually, at little cost, by the 
Seventeenth Corps, Major-General Blair, and a 
depot for supplies was established near the mouth 
of Pocotaligo Creek, with easy water communica- 
tions back to Hilton Head. As our troops ad- 
vanced toward the Charleston Railroad they met 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 363 

the enemy, who fell back after a short skirmish. 
The next day an attempt was made to flank the 
enemy's position, but they hastily evacuated their 
works, leaving three guns behind them. This po- 
sition was gained with the loss of about ten men 
killed and wounded. The attempt of General 
Foster to carry this same position about a month 
previously, cost him twelve or fifteen hundred men. 

THE LEFT WING. 

The left wing, commanded by Major-General 
Slocum, and the cavalry commanded by Major- 
General Kilpatrick, were ordered, in the meantime, 
to rendezvous near Robertsville and Coosawachie, 
South Carolina, with a depot of supplies at Pu- 
reysburg, or Sister's Ferry, on the Savannah River. 
General Slocum had a good pontoon bridge con- 
structed opposite the city, and the "Union Cause- 
way," leading through the low rice fields opposite 
Savannah was repaired and corduroyed, but before 
the time appointed to start the heavy rains of Jan- 
uary had swollen the river, broken the pontoon 
bridge and overflooded the whole bottom so that 
the causeway was four feet under water, and 
Slocum was compelled to look higher up for a 
passage over the Savannah Biver. He moved up 
to Sister's Ferry, but even there the river, with its 
overflowed bottoms was nearly three miles wide, so 



364 

that lie did not succeed in getting his whole wing 
across until the first week in February. 

In the meantime, General Grant had sent to Sher- 
man, Grover's Division of the Nineteenth Corps, 
to garrison Savannah, and had drawn the Twenty- 
third Corps, Major-General Schofield's command, 
from Tennessee and sent it to reenforce the com- 
mands of Major-Generals Terry and Palmer, ope- 
rating on the coast of North Carolina, to prepare 
the way for the march of Sherman. 

On the 18th of January, Sherman transferred 
the forts and city of Savannah to Major-General 
Foster, commanding the Department of the South. 
Sherman then imparted to Foster his plans of ope- 
ration and instructed him how to follow his move- 
ments inland by occupying, in succession, the city 
of Charleston and such other points along the sea- 
coast as would be of any value to us. 

The combined naval and land forces under Ad- 
miral Porter and General Terry had, on the 16th 
of January, captured Fort Fisher and the Rebel 
forts at the mouth of Cape Fear River, and thus 
gave to Sherman another point of security on the 
sea-coast. 

Sherman had already resolved, in his own mind, 
and had advised General Grant that he would un- 
dertake, " at one stride," to make Goldsboro, and 
open communications with the sea by the Newbern 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 365 

Railroad. He ordered Colonel W. W. Wright, 
Superintendent of Military Railroads to proceed, 
in advance to Newbern, and to be prepared to ex- 
tend the railroad out from Newbern to Goldsboro 
by the 15th of March. On the 19th of January, 
all preparations were finished and the orders for 
the march given. The Chief Quartermaster and 
Commissary, Generals Easton and Beckwith, were 
ordered to complete the supplies at Sister's Ferry 
and Pocotaligo, and then follow the movements of 
the army coastwise, looking for its arrival at 
Goldsboro, North Carolina, about the 15th of 
March, where they were to open communication* 
with Sherman from Morehead City. 

On the 22d of January, General Sherman in per- 
son, embarked at Savannah for Hilton Head, where 
he held a conference with Admiral Dahlgren of 
the United States Navy, and Major-General Foster 
commanding the Department of the South, and the 
next day proceeded to Beaufort, riding out thence 
on the 24th to Pocotaligo, where the Seventeenth 
Corps, Major-General Blair was encamped. At 
that time the Fifteenth Corps was somewhat scat- 
tered. Wood's and Hazen's divisions were at 
Beaufort. John E. Smith's was marching from 
Savannah by the coastward, and Corse was still at 
Savannah, cut off by storms and the freshet in the 
river. 



366 

On the 25th a demonstration was made against 
the Combahee Ferry and the Railroad Bridge 
across the Salkehatchie, merely to amuse the 
enemy, who had evidently adopted that river as his 
defensive line against our supposed objective point, 
the City of Charleston. General Sherman recon- 
noitered the line in person, and saw that the heavy 
rains had swollen the river so that water stood in 
the swamps for a breadth of more than one mile, 
at a depth of from one to twenty feet. Not having 
the remotest intention of approaching Charleston, 
a comparatively small force was able, by seeming 
preparations to cross over, to keep in their front a 
considerable force of the enemy who seemed 
disposed to contest our supposed advance on 
Charleston. 

On the 27th, General Sherman rode to the camp 
of General Hatch's division of Foster's command, 
on the Tullafuiney and Coosawatchie Rivers and 
directed those places to be evacuated, as no longer 
of any use to us. That division was then moved 
to Pocotaligo to keep up the feints already begun, 
until we should, with the right wing, move higher 
up and cross the Salkehatchie about River's or 
Broxton's Bridge. 

On the 29th Sherman learned that the roads back 
of Savannah had at last become sufficiently clear 
of the ^ood to admit of General Slocum putting 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 367 

his wing in motion, and that he was already ap- 
proaching Sister's Ferry, whither a gun-boat, the 
Pontiac, Captain Luce, kindly furnished by Ad- 
miral Dahlgren, had preceded him to cover the 
crossing. In the meantime, three divisions of the 
Fifteenth Corps had closed up at Pocotaligo, and 
the right wing had loaded its wagons and was ready 
to start. Sherman, therefore, directed General 
Howard to move one corps, the Seventeenth, along 
the Salkehatchie as high up as River's Bridge, and 
the other, the Fifteenth, by Hickory Hill, Bosser's 
Cross-Roads, Anglesey Post Office and Beaufort's 
Bridge. Hatch's division was ordered to remain 
at Pocotaligo, feinting at the Salkehatchie Rail- 
road Bridge and Ferry until our movement turned 
the enemy's position and forced him to fall behind 
the Edisto. 

The Seventeenth and Fifteenth Corps drew out 
of camp on the 31st of January, but the real march 
began on the 1st of February. All the roads 
northward had for weeks been held by Wheeler's 
cavalry who had, by details of negro laborers, felled 
trees, burned bridges and made obstructions to im- 
pede our march. But so well organized were the 
pioneer battalions and so strong and intelligent 
our men, that obstructions seemed only to quicken 
their progress. Felled trees were removed, and 
bridges rebuilt by the heads of columns before the 



368 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

rear could close up. On the 2d of February the 
15th Corps reached Topers Cross Roads, and the 
Seventeenth was at River's Bridge. From Toper's 
Cross Roads Sherman communicated with General 
Slocum, still struggling with the floods of the Sa- 
vannah River at Sister's Ferry. He had two divi- 
sions of the Twentieth Corps, General Williams, 
on the east bank, and was enabled to cross over on 
his pontoons the cavalry of Kilpatrick. General 
Williams was ordered to Beaufort Bridge, by way 
of Lawtonville and Allendale, Kilpatrick to Black- 
ville, by way of Barnwell, and General Slocum was 
ordered to hurry the crossing at Sister's Ferry as 
much as possible, and overtake the right wing on 
the South Carolina Railroad. General Howard, 
with the right wing, was directed to cross the Sal- 
kehatchie and push rapidly for the South Carolina 
Railroad, at or near Midway. The enemy held the 
line of the Salkehatchie in force, having infantry 
and artillery intrenched at River's and Beaufort's 
bridges. The Seventeenth Corps was ordered to 
carry River's Bridge, and the Fifteenth Corps 
Beaufort's Bridge. The former position was car- 
ried promptly and skilfully by Mower's and Giles 
A. Smith's divisions of the Seventeenth Corps, on 
the 3d of February, by crossing the swamp, nearly 
three miles wide, with water varying from knee 
deep to shoulder deep. The weather was bitter 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 369 

cold, and Generals Mower and Smith led their 
divisions in person, on foot, waded the swamps, 
made a lodgment below the bridge, and turned on 
the rebel brigade which guarded it, driving it in 
disorder and confusion towards Branchville. Our 
casualties were one officer and seventeen men 
killed, and seventy wounded, who were sent to 
Pocotaligo. 

For this success great credit should be given to 
Generals Mower and Smith, who promptly carried 
out General Sherman's orders in the face of great 
difficulties. To march a whole day, and that, too, 
a bitter, cold day in mid- winter, through water up 
to the arm-pits in places, required endurance, such 
as none but brave and true soldiers could or would 
endure. Such men cannot well fail of success. 

A correspondent, who examined the position 
abandonded by the enemy, speaks of it as follows : 

"February 5. 

" I have examined the works at Beaufort Bridge 
to-day, which were evacuated by the rebels as soon 
as we made the crossing at River's Bridge. It is 
a place of remarkable strength, both in its natural 
advantages and the strong line of works which de- 
fend the passage. A brigade with a single section 
of artillery could have held an army at bay. So it 
would seem, at least, when one wades and stum- 
bles over the narrow road which leads for half a 



370 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

mile through the swamp. When you come out of 
the dense jungle, and before crossing the main 
branch of the stream, you see before you, upon its 
border, a line of well-built works extending for a 
quarter of a mile on either side. Here are three 
embrasures, which were pierced for heavy guns, 
while the parapet is surmounted by the protecting 
head-log. If the enemy had not been flanked be- 
low, and could have held this place, it would have 
cost us hundreds of lives. As it is, we gained the 
peninsula formed by the Salkehatchie and Edisto 
Rivers. We have the choice of going to Augusta 
or Charleston. The latter place we can capture 
with less trouble than Savannah gave us, supposing 
we made a direct attack, for we can make an ex- 
cellent base at Bull's Bay. I know that the general 
expects to capture Charleston by operating a hun- 
dred miles away from its walls — a strategy which 
has not always been practised in this war. 

" General Williams is up with two of the divi- 
sions of the Twentieth Corps. Kilpatrick and his 
cavalry are at Allandale, and the balance of the 
left wing have crossed the Savannah. The army 
here has made a short move to-day, and we are 
within a single day's march of the Charleston and 
Augusta Railroad. We hear that the rebels intend 
defending it at several points, but they cannot 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 371 

protect the whole line, and we will flank them 
somewhere." 

After the line of the enemy on the Salkehatchie 
was broken, they retreated hastily behind the Edisto 
River, at Branchville, and onr whole army was 
pushed rapidly to the South Carolina Railroad, at 
Midway, Bamberg, or Lowry's Station and Gra- 
ham's Station. The Seventeenth Corps, by threat- 
ening Branchville, forced the enemy to burn the 
railroad bridge, and Walker's Bridge below, across 
the Edisto. All hands were at once set to work to 
destroy the railroad track. From the 7th to the 
10th of February this work was thoroughly prose- 
cuted by the Seventeenth Corps, from Edisto up to 
Bamberg, and by the Fifteenth Corps, from Bam- 
berg up to Blackville. In the meantime General 
Kilpatrick had brought his cavalry rapidly by Barn- 
well to Blackville, and had turned toward Aiken, 
with orders to threaten Augusta, but not to be 
drawn needlessly into serious battle. This he 
skilfully accomplished, skirmishing heavily with 
Wheeler's cavalry, first at Blackville, and after- 
wards at Williston and Aiken. General Williams, 
with two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, marched 
to the South Carolina Railroad, at Graham's Sta- 
tion, on the 8th, and General Slocum arrived at 
Blackville on the 12th of the month. The destruc- 
tion of the railroad was continued by the left wing 



372 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

from Blackville up to Windsor. By the 11th of 
February all the army was on the railroad from 
Midway to Johnson's Station, thereby dividing the 
enemy's forces, which still remained at Branchville 
and Charleston on the one hand, and at Aiken and 
Augusta on the other. 

For a clear and satisfactory account of the rest 
of the campaign, we refer to the official report of 
General Sherman, which we here insert word for 
word : 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 

We then began the movement on Orangeburg. The Seventeenth 
Corps crossed the south fork of the Edisto River at Binnaker's 
Bridge, and moved straight for Orangeburg, while the Fifteenth 
Corps crossed at Holman's Bridge, and moved to Poplar Springs 
in support. The left wing and cavalry were still at work on the 
railroad, with orders to cross the South Edisto at New and Guig- 
nard's Bridges, move to the Orangeburg and Edgefield R.oad, and 
there await the result of the attack on Orangeburg. On the 12th 
the Seventeenth Corps found the enemy intrenched in front of the 
Orangeburg Bridge, but swept him away by a dash, and followed 
him, forcing him across the bridge, which was partially burned. 
Behind the bridge was a battery in position, covered by a cotton 
and earth parapet, with wings as far as could be seen. General 
Blair held one division (Giles A. Smith's) close up to the Edisto, 
and moved the other two to a point about two miles below, where 
he crossed Force's division by a pontoon bridge, holding Mower's 
in support. As soon as Force emerged from the swamp, the 
enemy gave ground, and Giles A. Smith's division gained the 
bridge, crossed over, and occupied the enemy's parapet. He soon 
repaired the bridge, and by four in the afternoon the whole corps 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 373 

was in Orangeburg, and had begun the Avork of destruction on 
the railroad. Blair was ordered to destroy this railroad effectu- 
ally up to Lewisville, and to push the enemy across the Congaree, 
and force him to burn the bridges, which he did on the 14th ; 
and without wasting time or labor on Branchville or Charleston, 
which I knew the enemy could no longer hold, I turned all the 
columns straight on Columbia. The Seventeenth Corps followed 
the State Road, and the Fifteenth Corps crossed the North Edisto 
from Poplar Springs, at Schilling's Bridge, above the mouth of 
"Cawcaw Swamp" Creek, and took a country road, which came 
into the State Road at Zeigtor's. On the 15th the Fifteenth 
Corps found the enemy in a strong position at Little Congaree 
Bridge (across Congaree Creek), with a tete-de-pont on the south 
side, and a well constructed fort on the north side, commanding 
the bridge with artillery. The ground in front was very bad, 
level and clear, with a fresh deposit of mud from a recent over- 
flow. General Charles R. Woods, who commanded the leading 
division, succeeded, however, in turning the flank of the tete-de- 
pont by sending Stone's brigade through a cypress swamp to the 
left ; and, following up the retreating enemy promptly, he got 
possession of the bridge and fort beyond. The bridge had been 
partially damaged by fire, and ha 1 to be repaired for the passage 
of artillery, so that night clos. i in before the head of the column 
could reach the bridge across the Congaree River, in front of 
Columbia. That night i ;ie enemy shelled our camps from a bat- 
tery on the east side of the Congaree, above Granby. Early next 
morning (February 10), the head of the column reached the 
bank of the Congaree, opposite Columbia, but too late to save the 
fine bridge which spanned the river at that point. It was burned 
by the enemy. While waiting for the pontoons to come to the 
front, we could see the people running about the streets of Co- 
lumbia, and occasionally small bodies of cavalry, but no masses. 
A single gun of Captain De Grass' battery was firing at their 
cavalry squads, but I checked his firing, limiting him to a few 



374 

shots at the unfinished State House walls, and a few shells at the 
railroad depot, to scatter the people who were seen carrying 
away sacks of corn and meal that we needed. There was no 
white flag or manifestations of surrender. I directed General 
Howard not to cross directly in front of Columbia, but to cross 
the Saluda at the Factory, three miles above, and afterward 
Broad River, so as to approach Columbia from the north. Within 
an hour of the arrival of General Howard's head of column at 
the river opposite Columbia, the head of column of the left wing 
also appeared, and I directed General Slocum to cross the Saluda 
at Zion Church, and thence to take roads direct for Winnsboro, 
breaking up en route the railroads and bridges about Alston. 

Colonel Howard effected a crossing of the Saluda near the Fac- 
tory on the 16th, skirmishing with cavalry, and the same night 
made a flying bridge across Broad River, about three miles above 
Columbia, by which he crossed over Stone's brigade, of Wood's 
division, Fifteenth Corps. Under cover of this brigade, a pontoon 
bridge was laid on the morning of the 17th. I was in person at 
this bridge, and at 11 o'clock in the forenoon learned that the 
Mayor of Columbia had come out in a carriage and made a formal 
surrender of the city to Colonel Stone, Twenty-fifth Iowa infantry, 
commanding Third brigade, First division, Fifteenth Corps. 
About the same time a small party of the Seventeenth Corps had 
crossed the Congaree in a skiff, and entered Columbia from a 
point immediately west. In anticipation of the occupation of the 
city, I had made written orders to General Howard touching the 
conduct of the troops. These were to destroy absolutely all ar- 
senals and public property not needed for our own use, as well as 
all railroads, depots and machinery useful in war to an enemy, 
but to spare all dwellings, colleges, schools, asylums and harmless 
private property. I was the first to cross the pontoon bridge, 
and, in company with General Howard, rode into the city. The 
day was clear, but a perfect tempest of wind was raging. The 
brigade of Colonel Stone was already in the city, and was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 375 

properly posted. Citizens and soldiers were on the streets, and 
general good order prevailed. General Wade Hampton, who 
commanded the Confederate rear guard, had, in anticipation of 
our capture of Columbia, ordered that all cotton, public and pri- 
vate, should be moved into the streets and fired, to prevent our 
making use of it. Bales were piled everywhere, the rope and 
bagging cut, and tufts of cotton were blown about in the wind, 
lodged in the trees and against houses, so as to resemble a snow- 
storm. Some of these piles of cotton were burning, especially 
one in the very heart of the city, near the Court House, but the 
fire was partially subdued by the labor of our soldiers. During 
the day the Fifteenth Corps passed through Columbia, and out on 
the Camden Road. The Seventeenth did not enter the town at 
all ; and as I have before stated, the left wing and cavalry did 
not come within two miles of the town. 

Before one single public building had been fired by order, the 
smouldering fires set by Hampton's order were rekindled by the 
wind, and communicated with the buildings around. About dark 
they began to spread, and got beyond the control of the brigade 
within the city. The whole of Wood's division was brought in, 
but it was found impossible to check the flames, which, by mid- 
night, had become unmanageable, and raged until about four 
o'clock in the morning, when, the wind subsiding, they were got 
under control. I was up nearly all night, and saw Generals How- 
ard, Logan, Wood and others laboring to save houses and protect 
families thus suddenly deprived of shelter, and of bedding and 
wearing apparel. I disclaim, on the part of my army, any agency 
in this fire ; but, on the contrary, claim that we saved what of 
Columbia remains unconsumed. And, without hesitation, I charge 
General Wade Hampton with having burned his own city of Co- 
lumbia, not with a malicious intent, or as the manifestation of a 
silly " Roman stoicism," but from folly and want of sense, in 
filling it with lint, cotton and tinder. Our officers and men on 
duty worked well to extinguish the flames, but others not on duty, 



376 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

including the officers who had long been imprisoned there, res- 
cued by us, may have assisted in spreading the fire after it had 
once begun, and may have indulged in unconcealed joy to see the 
vuin of the capital of South Carolina. During the 18th and 19th 
♦he arsenal, railroad depots, machine shops, foundries and other 
buildings were properly destroyed by detailed working parties, 
and the railroad track torn up and destroyed down to Kingsville 
and the Wateree Bridge, and up in the direction of Winnsboro. 
At the same time the left wing and cavalry had crossed the 
Saluda aud Broad Rivers, breaking up the railroad about Alston, 
and as high up as the bridge across Broad River on the Spartan- 
burg Road, the main body moving straight for Winnsboro, which 
General Slocum reached on the 21st of February. He caused the 
railroad to be destroyed up to Blackstakes Depot, and then turned 
to Rocky Mount, on the Catawba River. The Twentieth Corps 
reached Rocky Mount on the 22d, laid a pontoon bridge, and 
crossed over during the 23d. Kilpatrick's cavalry followed, and 
crossed over in a terrible rain during the night of the 23d, and 
moved up to Lancaster, with orders to keep up the delusion of a 
general movement on Charlotte, N. C, to which General Beaure- 
gard and all The cavalry of the enemy had retreated from Co- 
lumbia. I was also aware that Cheatham's corps, of Hood's old 
army, was aiming to make a junction with Beauregard at Char- 
lotte, having been cut off by our rapid movement on Columbia 
and Winnsboro. From the 23d to the 20th we had heavy rains, 
swelling the rivers, and making the roads almost impassable. 
The Twentieth Corps reached Hamburg Rock on the 26th, and 
waited there for the Thirteenth Corps to get across the Catawba. 
The heavy rains had so swollen the river that the pontoon bridge 
broke, and General Davis had very hard work to restore it, and 
get his command across. At last he succeeded, and the left wing 
was all put in motion for Cheraw. In the meantime the right 
wing had broken up the railroad to Winnsboro, and thence turned 
for Pea's Ferry, where it was crossed over the Catawba before 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 377 

the heavy rains set in, the Seventeenth Corps moving straight on 
Cheraw via Young's Bridge, and the Fifteenth Corps by Tiller's 
and Kelly's Bridges. From this latter corps detachments were 
sent into Camden to burn the bridge over the Wateree, with the 
railroad depot, stores, etc. A small force of mounted men, under 
Captain Duncan, was also dispatched to make a dash and inter- 
rupt the railroad from Charleston to Florence, but it met Butler's 
division of cavalry, and, after a sharp night skirmish on Mount 
Elon, was compelled to return unsuccessful. Much bad road \*as 
encountered at Lynch's Creek, which delayed the right wing 
about the same length of time as the left wing had been at the 
Catawba. On the 2d of March the leading division of the Twen- 
tieth Corps entered Chesterfield, skirmishing with Butler's divi- 
sion of cavalry, and the next day, about noon, the Seventeenth 
Corps entered Cheraw, the enemy retreating across the Pedee, 
and burning the bridge at that point. At Cheraw we found much 
ammunition and many guns, which had been brought from 
Charleston on the evacuation of ^hat city. These were destroyed, 
as also the railroad trestles and bridges down as far as Darling- 
ton. An expedition of mounted infantry was also sent down to 
Florence, but it encountered both cavalry and artillery, and re- 
turned, having only broken up in part the branch road from 
Florence to Cheraw. 

Without unnecessary delay, the columns were again put in mo- 
tion, directed on Fayetteville, N. C, the right wing crossing the 
Pedee at Cheraw, and the left wing and cavalry at Sneedsboro. 
General Kilpatrick was ordered to keep well on the left flank, and 
the Fourteenth Corps, moving by Love's Bridge, was given the 
ria;ht to enter and occupy Fayetteville first. The weather con- 
tinued unfavorable and roads bad, but the Fourteenth and Seven- 
teenth Corps reached Fayetteville on the 11th of March, skir- 
mishing with Wade Hampton's cavalry, that covered the rear of 
Hardee's retreating' arm, which, as usual, had crossed Cape Fear 
River, burning the bridge. During the march from the Pedee, 



378 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

General Kilpatrick had kept his cavalry well on the left and ex- 
posed flank. During the night of the 9th of March his three 
brigades were divided to picket the roads. General Hampton 
detecting this, rushed in at daylight and gained possession of 
the camp of Colonel Spencer's brigade, and the house in which 
General Kilpatrick and Colonel Spencer had their quarters. The 
surprise was complete, but General Kilpatrick quickly succeeded 
in rallying his men, on foot, in a swamp near by, and by a prompt 
attack, well followed up, regained his artillery, horses, camp, and 
everything, save some prisoners, whom the enemy carried off, 
leaving their dead on the ground. 

The 12th, 13th and 14th were passed at Fayetteville, destroying 
absolutely the United States arsenal and the vast amount of ma- 
chinery which had formerly belonged to the old Harper's Ferry 
United States arsenal. Every building was knocked down and 
burned, and every piece of machinery utterly broken up and 
ruined, by the 1st regiment Michigan engineers, under the im- 
mediate supervision of Colonel 0. M. Poe, Chief Engineer. Much 
valuable property, of great use to the enemy, was here destroyed 
or cast into the river. 

Up to this period I had perfectly succeeded in interposing my 
superior army between the scattered parts of the enemy. But I 
was then aware that the fragments that had left Columbia under 
Beauregard had been reenforced by Cheatham's corps from the 
West, and the garrison of Augusta, and that ample time had been 
given to move them to my front and flank about Raleigh. Hardee 
had also succeeded in getting across Cape Fear River ahead of me, 
and could, therefore, complete the junction with the armies of 
Johnston and Hoke in North Carolina. And the whole, under the 
command of the skilful and experienced Joe Johnston, made up 
an army superior to me in cavalry, and formidable enough in ar- 
tillery and infantry to justify me in extreme caution in making 
the last step necessary to complete the march I had undertaken. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 379 

Previous to reaching Fayetteville, I had dispatched to Wil- 
mington, from Laurel Hill Church, two of our best scouts, with in- 
telligence of our position, and my general plans. Both of these 
messengers reached Wilmington, and on the morning of the 12th 
of March, the army tug, Davidson, Captain Ainsworth, reached 
Fayetteville from Wilmington, bringing me full intelligence of 
the outside world. On the same day this tug carried back to 
General Terry, at Wilmington, and General Schofield, at Newbern, 
my dispatches to the effect that, on Wednesday, the 15th, we 
would move for Goldsboro, feigning on Raleigh, and ordering 
them to march straight for Goldsboro, which I expected to reach 
about the 20th. The same day the gunboat Eolus, Captain Young, 
United States navy, also reached Fayetteville, and through her I 
continued to have communication with Wilmington until the day 
of our actual departure. While the work of destruction was 
going on at Fayetteville, two pontoon bridges were laid across 
Cape Fear River, one opposite the town and the other three miles 
below. 

General Kilpatrick was ordered to move up the plank road, to 
and beyond Averysboro. He was to be followed by four di- 
visions of the left wing, with as few wagons as possible ; the rest 
of the train, under escort of the two remaining divisions of that 
wing, to take a shorter and more direct road to Goldsboro. In 
like manner, General Howard was ordered to send his trains, 
under good escort, well to the right, towards Paison's Depot and 
Goldsboro', and to hold four divisions light, ready to go to the aid 
of the left wing if attacked while in motion. The weather con- 
tinued very bad, and the roads had become mere quagmire. Al- 
most every foot of it had to be corduroyed to admit the passage 
of wheels. Still, time was so important, that punctually, accor- 
ding to order, the columns moved out from Cape Fear river, on 
Wednesday, the 16th of March. I accompanied General Slocum, 
who, preceded by Kilpatrick's cavalry, moved up the river, or 
plank road, that day, to Kyle's Landing, Kilpatrick skirmishing 



380 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

heavily with the enemy's rear guard, about three miles beyond 
Taylor's Hole Creek. At General Kilpatrick's request, General 
Slocum sent forward a brigade of infantry to hold a line of 
barricades. 

Next morning the column advanced in the same order, and de- 
veloped the enemy, with artillery, infantry and cavalry, in an in- 
trenched position in front of the point where the road branches 
off towards Goldsboro through Bentonville. On an inspection of 
the map it was manifest that Hardee, in retreating from Fayette- 
ville, had halted in the narrow, swampy neck between Cape Fear 
and South Rivers in hopes to hold me to save time for concen- 
tration of Johnston's armies at some point to his rear, namely, 
Raleigh, Smithfield or Goldsboro. Hardee's forces were esti- 
mated at twenty thousand men. It was necessary to dislodge 
him that we might have the use of the Goldsboro road, as also to 
keep the feint on Raleigh as long as possible. General Slocum 
was, therefore, ordered to press and carry the position, only 
difficult by reason of the nature of the ground, which was so soft 
that horses would sink everywhere, and even men could hardly 
make their way over the common pine barren. 

The Twentieth Corps, General Williams, had the lead, and Ward's 
division the advance. This was deployed, and the skirmish line 
developed the position of a brigade of Charleston heavy artillery, 
armed as infantry ( Rhett's, ) posted across the road behind a 
light parapet, with a battery of guns enfilading the approach 
across a cleared field. General Williams sent a brigade (Casey's) 
by a circuit to the left and turned this line, and, by a quick charge, 
broke the brigade which rapidly retreated back to a second line, 
better built, and more strongly held. A battery of artillery 
( Winninger's ) well posted, under the immediate direction of 
Major Reynolds, chief of artillery of the Twentieth Corps, did 
good execution on the retreating brigade, and, on advancing 
Ward's division over the ground, General Williams captured three 
guns and two hundred and seventeen prisoners, of which sixty- 
eight were wounded, and left in a house near by with a rebel 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 381 

officer, four men, and five days' rations. One hundred and eight 

rebel dead were buried by us. As Ward's division advanced he 

developed a second and stronger line, when Jackson's division 

was deployed forward on the right of Ward, and two divisions of 

Jeff. C. Davis', (Fourteenth) Corps on the left, well towards Cape 

i Fear. At the same time, Kilpatrick, who was acting in concert 

with General Williams, was ordered to draw back his cavalry and 

mass it on the extreme right, and in concert with Jackson's right, 

to feel forward for the Goldsboro Road. He got a brigade on the 

j road, but it was attacked by McLaws' rebel division furiously, 

I and, though it fought well and hard, the brigade drew back to the 

j flank of the infantry. The whole line advanced late in the af- 

| ternoon, drove the enemy well within bis intrenched line, and 

• pressed him so hard that next morning he was gone, having re- 

.' treated in a miserable, stormy night over the worst of roads. 

J Ward's division of infantry followed to, and through Averysboro, 

developing the fact that Hardee had retreated, not on Raleigh, 

but on Smithfield. I had, the night before, directed Kilpatrick 

to cross South River at a milldam to our right rear, and move up 

on the east side towards Elevation. General Slocum reports his 

aggregate loss in the affair known as that of Averysboro, at 

twelve officers and sixty-five men killed, and four hundred and 

seventy-seven wounded. We lost no prisoners. The enemy's 

loss can be inferred from his dead (one hundred and eight,) left 

for us to bury. Leaving Ward's division to keep up a show of 

pursuit, Slocum's column was turned to the right, built a bridge 

across the swollen South River, and took the Goldsboro Road, 

Kilpatrick crossing to the north, in the direction of Elevation, 

with orders to move eastward, watching that flank. In the 

meantime the wagon trains and guards, as also Howard's column, 

were wallowing along the miry roads towards Bentonville and 

Goldsboro. The enemy's infantry, as before stated, had re- 

\ treated across our front in the same direction, burning the bridges 

across Mill Creek. I continued with the head of Slocum's column, 



382 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

and encamped the night of the 18th with him on the Goldsboro 
Road, twenty-seven miles from Goldsboro, about five miles from 
Bentonville, and where the road from Clinton to Smithfield crosses 
the Goldsboro Road. Howard was at Lee's store, only two miles 
south, and both columns had pickets three miles forward to where 
the two roads came together, and became common to Goldsboro. 
All the signs induced me to believe that the enemy would make 
no further opposition to our progress, and would not attempt to 
strike us in flank while in motion. I, therefore, directed Howard 
to move his right wing by the new Goldsboro Road, which goes 
by way of Falling Creek Church. I also left Slocum, and joined 
Howard's column, with a view to open communication with Gen- 
eral Schofield, coming up from Newbern and Terry, from Wil- 
mington. I found General Howard's column well strung out, 
owing to the very bad roads, and did not overtake him in person 
until he had reached Falling Creek Church, with one regiment 
forward to the cross-roads, near Cox's Bridge, across the Neuse. 
I had gone from General Slocum about six miles, when I heard 
artillery in his direction, but was soon made easy by one of his 
staff officers overtaking me, explaining that his leading division 
(Carlin's) had encountered a division of rebel cavalry (Dibbrell's), 
which he was driving easily But soon other staff officers came 
up, reporting that he had developed near Bentonville the whole 
of the rebel army under General Johnston himself. I sent him 
orders to call up the two divisions guarding his wagon trains, 
and Hazen's division of the Fifteenth Corps, still back near Lee's 
store, to fight defensively until I could draw up Blair's Corps, 
then near Mount Olive Station, and, with the remaining three 
divisions of the corps, come up on Johnston's left rear from the 
direction of Cox's Bridge. In the meantime, while on the road, 
I received couriers from both Generals Schofield and Terry. 
The former reported himself in possession of Kinston, delayed 
somewhat by want of provisions, but able to march so as to make 
Goldsboro on the 21st ; and Terry was at or near Faison's Depot. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 883 

Orders were at once dispatched to Schofield to push for Golds- 
boro, and to make dispositions to cross Little River in the direc- 
tion of Smithfield as far as Millard ; to General Terry to move to 
Cox's Bridge, lay a pontoon bridge, and establish a crossing ; 
and to Blair to make a night march to Falling Creek Church ; and 
at daylight the right wing. General Howard, less the necessary 
wagon guards, was put in rapid motion on Bentonville. By sub- 
sequent reports I learned that General Slocum's head of column 
had advanced from its camp of March 18th, and first encountered 
Dibbrell's cavalry, but soon found his progress impeded by infan- 
try and artillery. The enemy attacked his head of column, 
gaining temporary advantage, and took three guns and caissons 
of General Carlin's division, driving the two leading brigades 
back on the main body. As soon as General Slocum realized that 
he had in his front the whole Confederate army, he promptly de- 
ployed the two divisions of the Twentieth Corps, General Wil- 
liams. These he arranged on the defensive, and hastily prepared 
a line of barricades. General Kilpatrick also came up at the 
( sound of artillery, and massed on the left. In this position, the 
left received six distinct assaults, by the combined forces of 
Hoke, Hardee and Cheatham, under the immediate command of 
General Johnston himself, without giving an inch of ground, and 
did good execution on the enemy's ranks, especially with our 
artillery, the enemy having little or none. 

Johnston had moved by night from Smithfield with great ra- 
pidity, and without unnecessary wheels, intending to overwhelm 
my left flank before it could be relieved by its cooperating col- 
umns. But he "reckoned without his host." I had expected 
just such a movement all the way from Fayetteville, and was pre- 
pared for it. During the night of the 19th General Slocum got 
up his wagon train, with its guard of two divisions, and Hazen's 
division of the Fifteenth Corps, which reenforcement enabled 
him to make his position impregnable. The right wing found 
rebel cavalry watching its approach, but unable to offer any 



384 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

serious opposition, until our head of column encountered a con- 
siderable body behind a barricade at the forks of the road near 
Bentonville, about three miles east of the battle-field of the day 
before. On moving forward the Fifteenth Corps, General Logan 
found that the enemy had thrown back his left flank, and had con- 
structed a line of parapet connecting with that toward General 
Slocum, in the form of a bastion, its salient on the main Quids - 
boro Road, interposing between General Slocum on the west, and 
General Howard on the east, while the flanks rested on Mill 
Creek, covering the road back to Smithfield. General Howard 
was instructed to proceed with due caution until he had made 
strong connection on his left with General Slocum. This he soon 
accomplished, and at four o'clock on the afternoon of the 29th a 
complete and strong line of battle confronted the enemy in his 
intrenched position, and General Johnston, instead of catching us 
in detail, was on the defensive, with Mill Creek and a single 
bridge to his rear. Nevertheless, we had no object to accomplish 
by a battle, unless at an advantage, and therefore my general in- 
structions were to press steadily with skirmishers alone, to use 
artillery pretty freely on the wooded space held by the enemy, 
and to feel pretty strongly the flanks of his position, which were, 
as usual, covered with the endless swamps of this region of 
country. I also ordered all empty wagons to be sent at once to 
Kinston for supplies, and other impediments to be grouped near 
the Neuse, south of Goldsboro, holding the real army in close 
contact with the enemy, ready to fight him if he ventured outside 
his parapets and swampy obstructions. Thus matters stood about 
Bentonville on the 21st of March. On the same day General 
Schofield entered Goldsboro with little or no opposition, and 
General Terry had got possession of the Neuse River at Cox's 
Bridge, ten miles above, with a pontoon bridge laid and brigade 
across, so that the three armies were in actual connection, and 
the great object of the campaign was accomplished. 

On the 21st a steady rain prevailed, during which General 
Mower's division of the Seventeenth Corps, on the extreme right, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 385 

had worked well to the right around the enemy's flank, and had 
nearly reached the bridge across Mill Creek, the only line of re- 
treat open to the enemy. Of course there was extreme danger 
that the enemy would turn on him all his reserves, and it might 
be, let go his parapets to overwhelm Mower. Accordingly, I or- 
dered at once a general attack by our skirmish line, from left to 
right. Quite a noisy battle ensued, during which General Mower 
was enabled to regain his connection with his own corps, by 
moving to his left rear. Still he had developed a weakness in the 
enemy's position of which advantage might have been taken; but 
that night the enemy retreated on Smithfield, leaving his pickets 
to fall into our hands, with many dead unburied, and wounded in 
his field hospitals. At daybreak on the 22d pursuit was made 
two miles beyond Mill Creek, but checked by my order. General 
Johnston had utterly failed in his attempt, and we remained in 
full possession of the field of battle. 

General Slocum reports the losses of the left wing, about Ben- 
tonville, at niae officers and one hundred and forty-five men 
killed, fifty-one officers and eight hundred and sixteen men 
wounded, and three officers and two hundred and twenty-three 
missing, taken prisoners by the enemy ; total, one thousand two 
hundred and forty-seven. He buried on the field one hundred 
and sixty-seven rebel dead, and took three hundred and thirty- 
eight prisoners. General Howard reports the losses of the right 
wing as two officers and thirty-five men killed, twelve officers and 
two hundred and thirty-nine men wounded, and one officer and 
sixty men missing ; total three hundred and ninety-nine. He 
also buried one hundred rebel dead, and took one thousand two 
hundred and eighty-seven prisoners. The cavalry of Kilpatrick 
was held in reserve, and lost but few, if any, of which I have no 
report as yet. Our aggregate loss at Bentonville was one thousand 
six hundred and forty-six. I am well satisfied that the enemy 
lost heavily, especially in his assault on the left wing, during the 
afternoon of the 19th; but as I have no data save his dead and 



386 MA J. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 



ison. 



wounded left in our hands, I prefer to make no compari 
Thus, as I have endeavored to explain, we had completed our 
march on the 21st, and had full possession of Goldsboro, the real 
"objective,'' with its two railroads, back to the seaports of Wil- 
mington and Beaufort, South Carolina. These were being rapidly- 
repaired by strong working parties, directed by Colonel W. W. 
Wright, of the railroad department. A large number of supplies 
had already been brought forward to Kinston, to which place our 
wagons had been sent to receive them. I therefore directed Gen- 
eral Howard and the cavalry to remain at Bentonville during the 
22d, to bury the dead and remove the wounded, and on the fol- 
lowing day all the armies to move to the camps assigned them 
about Goldsboro, there to rest and receive the clothing and 
supplies of which they stood in need. In person I went on the 
22d to Cox's brigade to meet General Terry, whom I met for the 
first time, and on the following day rode into Goldsboro, where I 
found General Schofield and his army. The left wing came in 
during the same day and next morning, and the cavalry moved 
to Mount Olive Station, and General Terry back to Faison's. On 
the 25th the Newbern Railroad was finished, and the first train of 
cars came in, thus giving us the means of bringing from the 
depot at Morehead City full supplies to the army. 

It was all important that I should have an interview with the 
General-in-Chief, and presuming that he could not at this time 
leave City Point, I left General Schofield in chief command, and 
proceeded with all expedition by rail to Morehead City, and 
thence by steamer to City Point, reaching General Grant's head- 
quarters on the evening of the 27th of March. I had the good 
fortune to meet General Grant, the President, Generals Meade, 
Ord, and others, of the Army of the Potomac, and soon learned 
the general state of the military world, from which I had been, 
in a great measure, cut off since January. Having completed all 
necessary business, I reembarked on the navy steamer Bat, Cap- 
tain Barnes, which Admiral Porter placed at my command, and 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 387 

returned via Hatteras Inlet and Newbern, reaching my own head- 
quarters, in Goldsboro, during the night of the 30th. During 
my absence full supplies of clothing and food had been brought 
to camp, and all things were working well. I have thus rapidly 
sketched the progress of our columns from Savannah to Golds- 
boro, but for more minute details must refer to the reports of 
subordinate commanders and of staff officers, which are not yet 
ready, but will in due season be forwarded and filed with this 
report. I cannot, even with any degree of precision, recapitu- 
late the vast amount of injury clone to the enemy, or the quantity 
of guns and materials of war captured and destroyed. In gen- 
eral terms, we have traversed the country from Savannah to 
Goldsboro, with an average breadth of forty miles, consuming all 
the forage, cattle, hogs, sheep, poultry, cured meats, corn meal, 
etc. The public enemy, instead of drawing supplies from that 
region to feed his armies, will be compelled to send provisions 
from other quarters to feed the inhabitants. A map herewith 
prepared by my chief engineer, Colonel Poe, with the routes of 
the four corps and cavalry, will show, at a glance, the country 
traversed. Of course, the abandonment to us by the enemy of the 
whole sea coast, from Savannah to Newbern, N. C, with its forts, 
dock-yards, gunboats, etc., was a necessary incident to our occu- 
pation and destruction of the inland routes of travel and supply. 
But the real object of this march was to place this army in a 
position of supply, whence it could take an appropriate part in 
the spring and summer campaign of 1865. This was completely 
accomplished on March 21st, by the junction of the three armies 
and occupation of Goldsboro. 

In conclusion, I beg to express, in the most emphatic manner, 
my entire satisfaction with the tone and temperament of the 
whole army. Nothing seems to dampen their energy, zeal or 
cheerfulness. It is impossible to conceive a march involving 
more labor and exposure ; yet I cannot recall an instance of bad 
temper by the way, or hearing an expression of doubt as to our 



388 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

perfect success in the end. I believe that this cheerfulness and 
harmony of action reflects upon all concerned quite as much 
honor and fame as "battles gained" or "cities won," and I 
therefore commend all, generals, staff officers, and men, for these 
high qualities, in addition to the more soldierly ones of obedience 
to orders and the alacrity they have always manifested when 
danger summoned them "to the front." 

The grand march of Sherman's army from 
Savannah to Goldsboro, North Carolina, secured 
to us the entire sea coast, as far north as Newbern. 
The capture of Branchville and Columbia, secured 
the fall of Charleston, the cradle of secession, and 
the " hot bed of treason." For long months our 
naval forces had been thundering away at that 
strong hold, but without succeeding in its capture. 
It fell by the strategy of Sherman, without the 
firing of a single gun. 

Early in the evening of February 17th, 1865, 
Brigadier General Schimmelpfenning, commander 
of the Northern District of the Department of the 
South, discovered some indications which led him 
to believe that the enemy were about to evacuate 
Charleston and its defenses. He ordered his 
pickets and picket boats to keep a sharp lookout 
and report immediately any movement on the part 
>f the enemy. In the night a terrific explosion 
took place in Charleston, which shook every ship 
in the harbor and off" the bar, and was heard for 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 389 

many miles around. Immediately after the explo- 
sion flames broke out in various parts of the city. 
The first explosion, which was at the railroad depot, 
was the means of firing the houses in the vicinity, 
from whence the flames rapidly spread until the 
conflagration became general in that part of the 
city. A large number of women and children 
were killed by the explosion. 

About 6 o'clock on the morning of the 18th, 
General Schimmelpfenning moved his forces and 
occupied the city and its defenses. The formidable 
earthworks on James Island were found aban- 
doned, and the guns spiked. 

At 8 o'clock, a detachment was sent to take 
possession of Fort Sumter, and raise the flag 
which floated over Sumter when General Ander- 
son surrendered the fort, nearly four years previ- 
ously. At 9 o'clock the old flag was raised over 
Sumter, amid deafning cheers. 

As fast as our forces could be thrown into the 
city, they were set to work to put out the fires. 
Thus, whatever remains of Charleston, was saved 
from being consumed to ashes by Federal soldiers' 
Union hands. Thousands of bales of cotton were 
burned by the enemy. 

General Gilmore, in his dispatches to the War 
Department, states after inspecting the defenses of 
Charleston, that we had captured four hundred and 



390 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

fifty pieces of ordnance, eight locomotives, and a 
large number of cars, all in good condition. 

The Charleston Courier gives the following 
account of the evacuation. This will place the 
blame of firing the city where it belongs. " Rule 
or ruin" was still the motto of the conquered 
enemy. It seemed a righteous act of Providence 
that that city should be destroyed by the hands of 
secessionists, its pretended friends : 

HORRORS OF THE EVACUATION OF CHARLESTON. 
[ From the Charleston Courier, Feb. 20. ] 

The terrible scenes through which this commu- 
nity has passed since our last issue, can only be 
conceived by those who witnessed the dreadful 
reality. The saddest part of all is the loss of life 
which occurred between eight and nine o'clock, 
Saturday morning, from an accidental explosion of 
powder and the blowing up of the Northeastern 
Railroad depot. About one hundred and fifty 
persons — including men, women, and children — 
were either instantly killed, or perished in the 
flames, and about two hundred wounded. Of the 
immense destruction of property no estimate can 
be formed, but it will amount to several millions. 

Early Saturday morning, before the retirement 
of General Hardee's troops, every building, ware- 
house, or shed, stored with cotton, was fired by a 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 391 

guard detailed for that purpose. The engines were 
brought out, but with the very small force at the 
disposal of the lire department, very little else 
could be done than to keep the surrounding 
buildings from igniting. On the western side of 
the city the conflagration raged with great fury. 
On the wharf of the Savannah Railroad depot 
several hundred bales of cotton were awaiting 
shipment on the blockade runners; also several 
thousand bushels of rough rice. On Lucas street, 
leading to the depot, was a shed containing twelve 
hundred bales of cotton, which, together with 
several other sheds and buildings filled with cotton, 
belonging to private parties, fell a prey to the 
flames. Lucas' Mill, containing some thirty thou- 
sand bushels of rice, and Mr. R. T. Walker's 
warehouse, at the foot of Broad street, filled with 
commissary stores, were also destroyed. 

Shortly after 8 o'clock the terrible explosion at 
the Northwestern Railroad occurred. The explo- 
sion was tremendous, and shook the whole city. 
It appears from all accounts that this dreadful 
catastrophe was caused from the careless handling 
of powder by some boys, taking handfuls and 
throwing it into the cotton fire at the depot. In 
doing this they unwittingly laid a train to the apart- 
ment in which it was stored. The spectacle which 
followed was horrible. In an instant the whole 



392 

building was enveloped in smoke and flames. The 
cries of the wounded, the inability of the spectators 
to render assistance to those rolling and perishing 
in the fire, all rendered it a scene of indescribable 
terror. The fire spread with rapidity, communi- 
cating to the adjoining buildings, including the fine 
large residence of Dr. Seaman Deas, on the north- 
east corner of Chapel and Alexander streets, all of 
which were destroyed. The buildings on the op- 
posite side of the street were soon enveloped in 
flames, and the fire now became unmanageable. 
All the buildings embraced in the area of four 
squares on Chapel, Alexander, Washington and 
Charlotte streets to Calhoun street, with few ex- 
ceptions, were destroyed. About 10 o'clock fire 
broke out in the large four-story brick building of 
Madam Du E-ee, at the northeast corner of East 
Bay and Laurens streets. This, with the adjoining 
building on the northeast corner of Minority street, 
was all burned. Another fire broke out about 11 
o'clock in a range of buildings on the west side of 
Meeting street, near to the Court House. Five 
buildings were burned; the walls only were left 
standing. The alarm of fire Saturday night, in 
Ward four, was caused by the burning of the inside 
of a millinery establishment on King street. 

In addition to the above facts, the new bridge 
from the city to James Island was set on fire, and 
was still burning on Sunday night. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 393 

DESTRUCTION OF THE GUNBOATS. 

The burning and blowing-up of the iron-clads 
Palmetto State, Chicora and Charleston was a mag- 
nificent spectacle. The Palmetto State was the 
first to explode, and was followed by the Chicora, 
about 9 o'clock, and the Charleston about 11 A. M. 
The latter, it is stated, had twenty tons of gunpow- 
der on board. Pieces of the iron plates, red hot, 
fell on the wharves and set them on fire. By the 
active exertions of Superintendent Thomas Tur- 
ner, the gas works were saved. The explosions 
were terrific. Tremendous clouds of smoke went 
up, forming beautiful wreaths. A full Palmetto 
tree, with its leaves and stems, was noticed by 
many observers. As the last wreath of smoke 
disappeared the full form of the rattlesnake in the 
centre was remarked by many as it gradually faded 
away. 

INCIDENTS. 

When Generals Sherman and Howard rode 
along the streets of Columbia, the skirmishers who 
had previously entered the place cheered their 
much-loved chief. The chorus was taken up by 
the negroes, who lined the sidewalks, and followed 
the column, and shouted and danced along the 
way, and clapped their hands with exclamations of 
unbounded joy. 



394 

"Tank de Almighty God, Mr. Sherman has 
come at last. We knew it; we prayed for cle 
day, and de Lord Jesus heard our prayers. Mr. 
Sherman has come with his company." 

One fat old woman said to Sherman, while shak- 
ing him by the hand, which he always gladly gave 
to these poor people : " I prayed dis long time for 
yer, and de blessing ob de Lord is on yer. Yester- 
day, when yer stopped trowing de shells into de 
town, and de soldiers run away from de hill ober 
dar, I thout dat General Burygar' had drive 
you away, for dey said so ; but dey are dun gone, 
and here yer. Br ess de Lord, yer will hab a 
place in heaben; yer go dare, sure." 

The following incidents are related upon the 
authority and in the words of a well known army 
correspondent : 

CONVERSATIONS WITH PROMINENT CITIZENS. 

Constantly improving the many excellent oppor- 
tunities which I have for conversing with the pro- 
minent citizens, I have unquestionable evidence of 
their desire to end the war by submitting to the 
national authority. While not disguising their 
belief in the sovereignty of a state, and illy con- 
cealing their hate for the Yankees, they acknowl- 
edge their powerlessness to contend against the 
might of the idea of nationality embodied in our 
armies and navies. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 395 

HATRED OF JEFF. DAVIS. 

A citizen, whose name may be found in the 
earliest annals of the State, and which stands forth 
in high honor in the war of the Revolution, but 
whose sons are now in high office in the army of 
treason, said to me to-day: 

•' Sir, every life that is now lost in this war is 
murder, murder, sir. We have fought you bravely, 
but our strength is exhausted; we have no re- 
sources; we have no more men. The contest was 
unequal. You have conquered us, and it is best to 
submit and make wise use of the future. That is 
not my opinion because the Union flag is flying 
upon yonder capitol to-day, but it has been my 
conviction for many months past — a conviction 
more than confirmed by recent events. We would 
have peace, sir, were it not for that vain, obstinate, 
ambitious man, Jeff. Davis. I am not in excite- 
ment nor anger, sir, when I assure you that I know 
that a large majority of our people curse him, not 
only with their hearts, but their lips. His haughty 
ambition has been our ruin." 

The words of the gentleman which I have thus 
quoted have been the sentiments of nearly all I 
see, only they are sometimes expressed with added 
vehemence and more violent objurgations against 
Jeff. Davis. Unhappy chief of fallen spirits is he. 
Failure has brought down upon him hatred and 



396 MAJ, GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

abuse. It would not be cheers, nor friendly greet- 
ing, nor welcome that he would receive from the 
people of South Carolina, were he to visit them 
now. 

GIVING UP THE SLAVES. 

There have been many prophecies and theories 
advanced as to the possible future of the slaves 
and their owners, but I never thought that the day 
would ever come to me when South Carolina slave- 
holders would beg that I should take away their 
slaves — not because the negroes have been unfaith- 
ful, not that they would be unkind when we went 
away, for a lady bore witness, with tears in her 
eyes, to their attentions and kindness on the night 
of the fire ; but she said : 

" I know they wish to go with your army, and I 
beg of you to take them, for I have nothing for 
them to do, and cannot feed them. We have 
scarcely food for our own mouths, much less theirs. " 

These requests are not isolated, but general. 
The motives which prompt them are extended 
wherever we march ; but it is a singular develop- 
ment of the war that South Carolinians should 
petition us to give freedom to the many slaves to 
retain whose servitude they have sacrificed so much 
of the best life-blood of the land. 

A NEGRO WOMAN SHOT. 

During the skirmishing one of our men who, by 
the way, was a forager, was slightly wounded. The 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 397 

most serious accident of the day occurred to a 
negro woman, who was in a house where the rebels 
had taken cover. When I saw this woman, who 
would not have been selected as a type of South 
Carolina female beauty, the blood was streaming 
over her neck and bosom from a wound in the 
lobe of her ear, which the bullet had just clipped 
and passed on. 

" What was it that struck you, aunty ? " I asked 
her. 

"Lor bress me, massa, I dun know; I jus fell 
right down." 

" Didn't you feel anything, nor hear any sound? " 

" Yes, now I 'member, I heerd a s-z-z-z-z-z, and 
den I jus knock down. I drap on de groun'. I'se 
so glad I not dead, for if I died den de bad man 
would git me, cos I dance lately a heap." 

REFUGEES AND LOYALISTS. 

One of the most significant features of our 
journey through the South has been the frequent 
prayer and entreaty of the people that they might 
be permitted to join our column and march with 
us to the sea, or wherever we might go, so that 
they could leave the region of despotism, anywhere 
out of the South and towards the pure air of free- 
dom again. One is a mechanic, who was born and 
reared in the old Granite State. He came here 



398 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

four years ago as master mechanic in a railroad 
machine-shop. He has been able to avoid service 
in the rebel army, because his services were ne- 
cessary in the shop. He is taken along for his 
services and can be made of good use. 

Here is a daughter and mother, whose son is in 
the Federal army. Their little means have long 
since been exhausted, and they wish to go to Con- 
necticut, where relatives will gladly care for them, 
and where they can get news of their son and 
brother. Another is a poor Irish woman, whose 
husband has been conscripted into the rebel army, 
and is now a prisoner, sick in a Northern hospital. 

At Columbia there were several families of 
wealth and position, who had always been sus- 
pected of loyal proclivities. Upon our occupation 
of that city it became known to the rebel inhabi- 
tants that these people had always assisted our 
prisoners, and previous to our approach, had 
secreted a great many at imminent peril. It would 
be impossible to reject these generous, self-sacri- 
hcing friends. The fire had not spared their houses, 
and they were homeless, but we well knew that to 
remain after our visit would be certain death. Up 
to this time the want of means of transportation 
had necessitated a refusal of these requests. But 
some of the wagons were now empty ; then there 
were a number of vehicles captured from the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 399 

enemy ; horses and mules we bring in every day, 
and again, not a few of the families asking our pro- 
tection, are able to furnish their own transportation. 

General Howard was in command of the troops 
at Columbia, and these unfortunates did not appeal 
in vain to his generous, sympathetic heart, which 
never refuses to sympathize with those in distress. 

With the approbation of General Sherman, 
General Howard at once organized an emigrant 
train, which was placed under guard of the escaped 
prisoners belonging to other commands. This 
train has been separated, and apportioned to each 
division of the Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps. 
They are getting along famously. Ladies who 
have been always accustomed to the refinements 
of life, seem to enjoy the journey as much as if it 
were a picnic. In truth it is better than that ; for, 
while they are not exposed to the dangers of war, 
they participate in its excitements. The column 
has a singularly outre appearance. First, there will 
be a huge family coach containing ladies, with 
their personal baggage crowded about them ; then 
an army wagon loaded with men, women and chil- 
dren, comfortably seated upon such articles of 
household truck as they are allowed to carry. Fol- 
lowing this will be a country cart filled with negro 
women, for the negroes come along also, and hosts 
of little curly, bullet-headed youngsters, who gaze 



400 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

curiously upon the strange sights which meet their 
eyes. 

General Hazen, whose name can never be men- 
tioned but with inspiring recollections of the assaul 
of Fort McAllister, tells me that the large number 
who accompany his division, are but little trouble 
to him, and that they have so quickly learned to 
forage for themselves that they are no expense to 
the government. Two of the escaped officers, with 
a detachment of ten men, have charge of the train, 
which .takes its assigned place in the column ; a 
few tents which are in excess or have been captured 
are pitched, when the column go into camp, and 
our little colony, with grateful hearts, go to their 
night's rest with the glad consciousness that they 
are step by step approaching a land of civilization 
and freedom. 

In this life, so new and strange to the refugees, 
numbers of families become separated from each 
other. Portions of the army, who for days march 
upon separate road's, will at one time or another 
come together again, as at this place for example, 
when three corps, which have been marching upon 
different roads, unite at Cheraw for the purpose of 
crossing the river. The troops and trains, although 
really distinct to the initiated eye, may be mistaken 
for one another. I have seen the negroes, espe- 
cially, wandering about as completely lost as if they 
were m an uninhabited forest. 



; 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 401 

GENERAL SHERMAN AND THE NEGROES. 

I happened to be present to-day (March 3d) 
at one of those interviews which so often occur 
between General Sherman and the negroes. The 
conversation was piquant and interesting, not only 
as being characteristic of both parties, but it was 
the more significant because, on the part of the 
general, I believe it a fair expression of his feelings 
on the slavery question. 

A party of ten or fifteen negroes had just found 
their way through the lines from Cheraw. Their 
owners had carried them from the vicinity of Co- 
lumbia to the other side of the Pedee, with their 
mules and horses, which they were running away 
from our army. The negroes had escaped, and 
were on their way back to find their families. A 
more ragged set of human beings would not have 
been found out of the slave states ; or perhaps 
Italy. These negroes were of all ages, and had 
stopped in front of the general's tent, which w T as 
pitched a few feet back from the sidewalk of the 
main street. 

Several officers of the army, and among them 
General Slocum, were gathered round, interested 
in the scene. The general asked them : 

" Well, men, what can I do for you ; where are 
you from?" 



402 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

" Wese jus come from Cheraw. Massa took us 
with him to carry mules and horses away from 
youins." 

"You thought we would get them. Did you 
wish us to get the mules?" 

" Oh, yes, massa ! dat's what I wanted. We 
knowed youins comin, and I wanted you to have 
dem mules, hut no use, dey heard dat youins on 
de road, and nuthin would stop them. Why, as we 
cum along, de cavalry run away from the Yanks as 
if dey fright to def. Dey jumped into de river, 
and some of them lost dere horses. Dey frightened 
at de heryname of Sherman." 

Some one at this point said : " That is General 
Sherman who is talking to you." 

" God bress me, is you Mr. Sherman?" 

" Yes, I am Mr. Sherman." 

" Dat's him, su' uuff," said one. 

" Is dat de great Mr. Sherman dat we's heard ob 
so long," said another. 

« Why, dey so frightened at your berry name dat 
dey run right away," shouted a third. 

" It is not me they are afraid of," said the gen- 
eral; "the name of another man would have the 
same effect with them if he had this army. It is 
these soldiers that they run away from." 

" Oh, no," they all exclaimed," its de name ob 
Sherman, su' ; and we hab wanted to see you so 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 403 

long while you trabbel all roun' jis whar you like 
to go. Dey said dat dey wanted to git you a little 
furcler on, and den dey whip all your soldiers ; but 
God bress me, you keep cumin' and cumin', an' 
dey allers git out.' 

" Dey mighty fraid ob you, sar ; dey say you kill 
de colored men, too," said an old man, who had not 
heretofore taken part in the conversation. 

With much earnestness, General Sherman re- 
plied : 
I " Old man, and all of you, understand me. I 
desire that bad men should fear me, and the ene- 
! mies of the Government which we are all fighting 
j for. Now we are your friends; you are now free. 
, ("Tank you, Massa Sherman," was ejaculated by 
I the group.) You can go where you please ; you 
j can come with us or go home to your children. 
Wherever you go you are no longer slaves. You 
ought to be able to take care of yourselves. ( We 
is; we will.") You must earn your freedom, then 
you will be entitled to it, sure ; you have a right to 
be all that you can be, but you must be industrious, 
and earn the right to be men. If you go back to 
your families, and I tell you again you can go 
with us if you wish, you must do the best you 
can. When you get a chance, go to Beaufort or 
Charleston, where you will have a little farm to work for 
yourselves" 



404 MAJ GEN. W. 

The poor negroes were filled with gratitude and 
hope by these kind words, uttered in the kindest 
manner, and went away with thanks and blessings 
on their lips. 

THE DESOLATION OF WAR — FORAGERS AND FORAGING. 

Our foragers spread in irregular and regular par- 
ties skirmishing over the country. These enter- 
prising characters were known by the names of 
"Bummers," " Smoke-house Rangers " and "Do- 
Boys." A bummer is an individual who by favor 
of a wagon-master becomes possessed of a broken 
down mule, or else starts, if needs be, on foot, in 
either case, of course, armed with his musket. He 
makes his way into the enemy's country, finds 
horses in numbers by help of the negroes, hitches 
a team to a wagon, loads on it all the stores and 
supplies he can find in the nearest house, mounts 
his negroes on the rest of the horses, and returns 
with his spoils. He never objects to gold watches 
or silver plate " if he can find them in a swamp a 
mile away from any house." These men were 
stragglers not in the rear but in front of the army, 
and they went before it like a cloud, being often 
twenty or thirty miles in advance of the head of 
the column. They would fight anything. Three 
" bummers " together would at any time attack a 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 405 

company of rebel cavalry, and, in favorable cir- 
cumstances, would disperse them and capture 
:heir booty. With the exception of Columbia 
ilone, every town in South Carolina through 
ivhich the army passed was first entered by the 
bummers. At Chesterfield they were two days 
and a half ahead of the army, the whole corps 
baving congregated at this point. 
I At Robertsville we struck the Savannah and 
Augusta Railroad, and in obedvM. ■■;■ to the "file 
(eft n order, turned towards Augusta. Half a mile 
put I noticed the smouldering ruins of Colonel 
'(Lawton's fine plantation, the fence and negro 
shanties alone remaining undisturbed. The plan- 
tation hands were all at home, but before the 
,column had disappeared but one or two of Law- 
Eton's blacks remained to tell the tale of devas- 
tation, when the rebel lord returned to his deserted 
igrounds. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SHERMAN'S CAMPAIGN IN THE CAROLINAS. 

in the heart of north carolina results of the 

campaign the sentinel davis and an english 

paper advance of sherman and retreat of the 

enemy effect of the capture of richmond 

fall of richmond and surrender of lee's army 

co-operation of sherman memorandum or agree- 
ment between sherman and johnston special 

order of sherman disapproval of the agree- 
ment by the cabinet grant sent to north 

carolina result of his mission explanation 

of Sherman's course — remarks. 

In the last chapter we left General Sherman 
find his splendid army, after their successful march, 
at Goldsboro, North Carolina. 

One thousand miles triumphantly traversed, 
"brought the captors of Atlanta, Milleclgeville, 
Savannah, Charleston, Columbia, Fayettville and 
Goldsboro, into the very heart of North Carolina. 

Some of the results of this campaign were four- 
teen cities captured, hundreds of miles of railroad 
destroyed, thousands of bales of cotton burned ; 
85 cannon, 4,000 prisoners and 25,000 animals 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 407 

captured, and over fifteen thousand white and 
black refugees were set free. Thousands of stands 
of small arms were secured at various places on 
the march, and large quantities of machinery, 
ammunition and stores. 

The Richmond Sentinel pronounced the grand 
march of Sherman, " simply the flight of a bird 
through the air." 

Jeiferson Davis admitted, that having conquered 
the West, Sherman seriously threatened Richmond 
itself. 

" Recent military operations of the enemy," he 
says, " have been successful in capturing some of 
our seaports; in interrupting some of our lines of 
communications and in devastating large districts 
of our country. These events have had the natural 
effect of encouraging our foes and dispiriting many 
of our people." 

The Sentinel, however, in common with the Army 
and Navy Gazette, the leading military publication 
of England, persisted in uttering the prediction 
that Sherman would be " annihilated." " Bona- 
parte," said this rebel organ, "found at last a 
Moscow and a Waterloo, and a Swedish madman 
a Pultona and a FrederickshalL Sherman, though 
he plays at a less important game, dares a greater 
danger and shall surely share their fate." 

While these extracts show that the papers of the 
South were false prophets, they indicate plainly 



408 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

that Sherman has accomplished what to them 
seemed an impossibility. 

After Sherman had destroyed the arsenal, ma- 
chinery and other property that might be of service 
to the enemy — without resting his army at Fay- 
ette ville, as he would have been excused for doing, 
and as any other commander would have done — 
marched across the country to Goldsboro ! "With 
his habitual but astonishing fearlessness, he moved 
for the north and rear of Goldsboro for the pur- 
pose of flanking it. The move was a perfect suc- 
cess. Brao;2r and Johnston moved back on Raleigh. 
The flanking of Goldsboro at once relieved the 
pressure which kept Schofield at Kinston. 

Sherman's army moved forward, and without 
much serious opposition captured Raleigh, the 
capital of the State. 

The unfailing success of Sherman in driving the 
rebel army before him, from point to point, until 
he had reached a position so threatening to Rich- 
mond, compelled General R. E. Lee to send rein- 
forcements to Johnston from Richmond. The 
enemy knew that unless Sherman could be checked 
both armies would be caged inside the fortifications 
of Richmond. But to reenforce Johnston was to 
present a strong temptation to General Grant to 
attack Richmond. The experiment was tried, 
" ex necessitate." Grant, with his eagle eye saw the 
prey, darted down upon it and seized it. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 409 

Richmond, the nest of traitors and treason, and 
Petersburgk fell after a desperate conflict, and 
great was the fall thereof. On the 3d day of April, 
1865, they were occupied by the United States 
forces. 

The retreating army of Lee was rapidly pursued 
until he was completely surrounded in the vicinity 
of Appomattox Court House, about twenty-two 
miles east of Lynchburg and one hundred and 
three miles west of Richmond. Here it was that 
General Lee surrendered the army of Northern 
Virginia to General Grant, April 9th, 1865, on 
such conditions as were regarded as very lenient, 
even by Lee himself. 

The details of this great event, as given by an 
eye witness, will be read with interest : 

It will be recollected that General Grant's first 
letter to Lee was dated on the 7th, Friday, the day 
of the battle of Farmville, and the correspondence 
was kept up during the following day and up to 11 
o'clock on Sunday, as already published. In re- 
sponse to General Grant's last letter, General Lee 
appeared on the picket line of the Second Corps, 
Miles' division, with a letter addressed to General 
Meade, requesting a cessation of hostilities while 
he considered General Grant's terms of surrender. 
j General Meacle replied that he had no authority to 
accede to the request, but that he would wait two 
l* 



410 

hours before making an attack. In the meantime 
General Grant sent word to General Meade that 
he would be up in half an hour, and the matter 
was turned over to him. A flag of truce proceeded 
to Appomattox Court House shortly after noon, 
and at about 2 o'clock P. M. the two generals met 
at the house of Mr. Wilmer McLean. General 
Lee was attended by General Marshal, his adjutant 
general, and General Grant, by Colonel Parker, 
one of his chief aides-de-camp. The two generals 
met and greeted each other with dignified courtesy, 
and proceeded at once to the business before them. 
General Lee immediately alluded to the conditions 
of the surrender, characterized them as exceed- 
ingly lenient, and said he would gladly leave all 
the details to General Grant's own discretion. 
General Grant stated the terms of parole : that 
the arms should be stacked, the artillery packed, 
and the supplies and munitions turned over to 
him, the officers retaining their side arms, horses 
and personal effects. General Lee promptly as- 
sented to the conditions, and the agreement of sur- 
render was engrossed and signed by General Lee 
at 3.30 o'clock. 

General Lee asked General Grant for an inter- 
pretation of the phrase "personal effects," and 
said that many of his cavalrymen owned their own 
horses. General Grant said he construed it to 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 411 

mean that the horses must be turned over to the 
United States Government. General Lee admitted 
the correctness and justice of the interpretation, 
when General Grant said he would instruct his 
officers to allow those men who owned their horses 
to retain them, as they would need them tor the 
purpose of tilling their farms. General Lee ex- 
pressed a great sense of gratification for such a 
generous consideration, and said it would have a 
very good effect. He subsequently expressed a 
hope that each soldier might be furnished with a 
certificate of his parole, as evidence to prevent 
him from being forced into the army until regu- 
larly exchanged. General Grant assented to the 
suggestion, and the printing presses were soon put 
to work to print the 'documents required. 

In regard to the strength of his army, General 
Lee said he had no idea of the number of men that 
he should be able to deliver up. There had been so 
many engagements and such heavy losses from de- 
sertion and other causes within the past few days, 
and the retreat so rapid, that no regular morning 
reports had been made since leaving Petersburg; 
but it is generally believed by the best informed 
officers that Lee surrendered eighteen to twenty 
thousand men. Of the army horses, wagons, &c, 
I there is no official account. General Lee informed 



412 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

General Grant that his men were short of provi- 
sions, whereupon General Grant ordered twenty- 
five thousand rations to be distributed to thern. 
Thus substantially ended the interview. Both gen- 
erals were the very impersonation of dignity and 
courtesy in their bearing. Lee was in fine health, 
and though apparently impressed with the vital 
effect and importance of the act he was perform- 
ing, he was cheerful and pleasant in his demeanor. 
The house where the stipulations were signed was 
a fair brick structure, with neat grounds, and quite 
neatly furnished. The room in which the interview 
took place was a comfortable parlor, about eigh- 
teen by twenty feet, and adorned by the usual 
furnishing common to the average of Virginia 
houses. 

Both generals were attired in full uniform. Lee 
wore a very fine sword. Grant had no side arms, 
having left camp the day previous with the inten- 
tion of being gone but a few hours, but, on the 
contrary, being gone all night. When the two 
generals first met they were attended only by the 
staff officers already mentioned; but, during the 
interview, several of our officers entered and were 
introduced to General Lee, who received them cor- 
dially and made no objections to their presence. 
They were Major Generals Ord and Sheridan, 
Brevet Major General Ingalls, Brigadier Generals 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 413 

Williams, Rawlins and Barnard, Lieutenant Colo- 
nels Parker, Dent, Badeau, Bowers, A. A. G., 
Porter and Babcock, and Captain Lincoln. E. B. 
Washburn, M. C. from Illinois, was the only civilian 
present. 

It should be said that General Grant had antici- 
pated the surrender for several days, and had 
resolved beforehand not to require the same for- 
malities which are required in a surrender between 
the forces of two foreign nations or belligerent 
powers ; that they were our own people, and to 
exact no conditions for the mere purpose of 
humiliation. 

After the interview General Lee returned to his 
own camp, about half a mile distant, where his 
leading officers were assembled awaiting his 
return. 

He announced the result and the terms, where- 
upon they expressed great satisfaction at the leni- 
ency of the conditions. They then approached 
him in order of rank, shook hands, expressing 
satisfaction at his course and their regret at parting, 
all shedding tears on the occasion. 

The fact of surrender and the liberal terms were 
then announced to the troops, and when General 
Lee appeared among them he was loudly cheered. 
On Monday, between 9 and 10 o'clock A. M., 
General Grant and staff rode out in the direction 



414 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

of the rebel lines, and on a hill jnst beyond the 
court house, where a full view of the rebel army 
could be obtained, G-eneral Lee was met, attended 
by but one staff officer and orderlies. The gen- 
erals halted, and, seated on their horses, conversed 
for nearly an hour upon the prospects of the future, 
each seeming to realize the mighty influence which 
the events of the present were to have upon it. 
General Lee signified very emphatically his desire 
for a total cessation of hostilities, and indicated 
his intention to do all in his power to effect that 
end. The best of good feeling prevailed, and this 
was the last interview between the two comman- 
ders. General Grant returned to McLean's house, 
and soon after Generals Longstreet, Gordon, 
Pickett and Heth, with a number of staff* officers, 
arrived, and after recognitions and introductions, 
an hour of very friendly intercourse took place, 
during which many scenes and incidents of college 
days, and days of service together in the regular 
army, were revived and retold with much good 
nature. 

General Grant gave General Lee and his princi- 
pal officers passes to proceed whither they wished. 
The parties then separated, and early on Tuesday 
morning General Grant and staff left the scene of 
the great event for their head-quarters at City 
Point, arriving at 4.30 A. M. General Meade was 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 415 

left in command to superintend the details of the 
surrender, which would occupy several days, the 
work of providing each man and officer with an 
individual parole being a slow and tedious one ; 
part of them are written and part printed by the 
little printing presses which accompany the head- 
quarters. 

Thus in exactly two weeks, to almost an hour, 
from the time G-eneral Grant and staff broke up 
their head-quarters at City Point for the spring 
campaign, they return with the spring campaign 
not only complete, but the entire opposing army 
destroyed, and the war substantially closed. The 
complete character of the destruction of Lee's 
army thus accomplished, forcibly appears from 
these facts, viz : That when the operations began 
two weeks ago, his army numbered not less than 
65,000 men; that we have captured from him 
25,000 prisoners ; that his killed and wounded are 
not less than 14,000 ; and that the balance of the 
army deserted on the retreat, or fell into our hands 
at the surrender. 

The congratulations at head-quarters were very 
hearty. 

All honor to General Grant and his heroic sol- 
diers, for the utter overthrow of the army of Nor- 
thern Virginia. But let it never be forgotten that 
they could not have accomplished that great result 



416 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

without the cooperation of Sherman and his noble 
army. The long and successful march of Sherman 
through Georgia and the Carolinas, made that 
event possible. Every effort hitherto to capture 
Richmond had failed. 

After the surrender of Lee's army it was the 
general expression that Johnston would also sur- 
render to Sherman without another battle. Day 
after day rumors were afloat of the expected sur- 
render. At length a bearer of dispatches from 
General Sherman arrived at "Washington City on 
the evening of April 21st, with the following 
agreement between Sherman and Johnston, to be 
submitted to the War Department for approval or 
disapproval : 

MEMORANDUM OR BASIS OF AGREEMENT 

Made this 18th day of April, A. D., 1865, near Durham's Station, 
in the State of North Carolina, by and between Gen. Jos. Johnston, 
commanding Confederate Army, and Major- General W. T. Sherman, 
commanding the Army of the United States in North Carolina : 

1. The contending armies now in the field to maintain their 
statu quo until notice is given by the commanding general of 
either one to its opponents, and a reasonable time, say forty-eight 
hours, allowed. 

2. The Confederate armies now in existence to be disbanded 
and conducted to their several State capitals, there to deposit 
their arms and public property in the State arsenals, and each of 
five men to execute and file an agreement to cease from acts of war 
and abide the action of both State and Federal authority. The 
number of arms and munitions of war to be reported to the Chief 
of Ordnance at Washington City, subject to the future action of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 417 

the Congress of the United States, and in the meantime to be used 
solely to maintain peace and order within the borders of the 
States respectively. 

3. The recognition by the executive of the United States of the 
, several State governments and their officers and Legislatures, 

and taking the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United 
i States, and where conflicting State governments have resulted 
from war, the legitimacy of all shall be submitted to the Supreme 
Court of the United States. 

4. The reestablishment of all the Federal Courts in the several 
! States, with powers as delegated by the Constitution and laws of 

Congress. 

5. People and inhabitants of all the States to be guaranteed, 
j so far as the executive can, their political rights and franchises, 
I as well as their rights of persons and property, as defined by the 
j Constitution of the United States, and of States respectively. 

( 6. The executive authority of the Government of the United 
| States not to disturb any of the people by reason of the late war, 
I so long as they live in peace and quiet, abstain from acts of armed 
t hostilities, and obey the laws in existence, in any place of their 
residence. 

7. The general terms we leave to a general amnesty, so far as 
the executive power of the United States can convey, or on con- 
dition of disbandment of the Confederate armies, and the dis- 
tribution of arms and resumption of peaceable pursuits by officers 
and men, as hitherto composing the said armies, not being fully 
empowered by our respective principals to fulfil these terms. 
We individually and officially pledge ourselves to promptly obtain 
the necessary authority, and to carry out the above programme. 

W. T. SHERMAN, 

Commander Army United States in North Carolina. 

J. E. JOHNSTON, 

General Commanding Confederate Army, North Carolina. 



418 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 



The next day, April 19th, 1865, General Sher- 

} 



man issued the following order : 

" Headquarters Military Division of the 
"Mississippi, in the Field, 
"Raleigh, N. C, April 19, 1865. 

" Special Field Order, No. 58. 

" The general commanding announces to the army a suspension 
of hostilities and an agreement with General Johnston, and high 
officials, which when formally ratified, will make peace from the 
Potomac to the Rio Grande. Until absolute peace is arranged, a 
line passing through Tyrell's Mount, Chapel Hill, University, 
Durham's Station and West Point, on the Neuse River, wil sepa- 
rate the armies. Each army commander will group his camp 
entirely with a view to comfort, health and good discipline. All 
details of military discipline must still be maintained. The gen- 
eral hopes and believes that in a very few days it will be his good 
fortune to conduct you all to your homes. 

" The fame of this army for courage, industry and discipline 
is admitted all over the world. Then let each officer and man see 
that it is not stained by any act of vulgarity, rowdyism and petty 
crime. 

" Cavalry will patrol the front of the line; General Howard will 
take charge of the district from Raleigh up to the cavalry; Gen- 
eral Slocum to the left of Raleigh; and General Schofield in Ra- 
leigh, its right and rear. The quartermaster and commissaries 
will keep their supplies up to a light load for the wagons, and the 
railroad superintendent will arrange a depot for the convenience 
of each separate army. 

"By order of Major-General W. T. SHERMAN. 

"L. M. Dayton, A. A. G." 

The Cabinet held a meeting promptly after the 
reception of the dispatches from Sherman, and 
disapproved of the agreement, for the following 
reasons : 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 419 

1. It was an exercise of authority not vested in General Sher- 
man ; and its face shows that both he and Johnston knew mat he 
(General Sherman) had no authority to enter into any such 
arrangements. 

2. It was a practical acknowledgment of the Rebel Government. 

3. It undertook to reestablish the rebel State governments, 
that had been overthrown at the sacrifice of many thousand loyal 
lives and an immense treasure, and placed arms and ammunition 
in the hands of rebels at their respective capitals, which might 
be used as soon as the armies of the United States were disbanded, 
and used to conquer and subdue the loyal States. 

4. By the restoration of the rebel authorities in their res- 
pective States, they would be enabled to reestablish slavery. 

5. It might furnish a ground of responsibility by the Federal 
Government to pay the rebel debt, and would certainly subject 
loyal citizens of the rebel States to the debt incurred by rebels in 
the name of the State. 

6. It puts in dispute the existence of loyal State governments, 
and the new State of West Virginia, which had been recognized 
by every department of the United States Government. 

7. It practically abolished the confiscation laws, and relieved 
rebels of every degree, who had slaughtered our people, from all 
pains and penalties for their crimes. 

8. It gave terms that had been deliberately, repeatedly and 
solemnly rejected by President Lincoln, and better terms than 
the rebels had ever asked in their most prosperous condition. 

9. It forms no basis of true and lasting peace, but relieved the 
rebels from the pressure of our victories, and left them in a con- 
dition to renew their efforts to overthrow the United States Gov- 
ernment and subdue the loyal States whenever their strength was 
recruited and an opportunity should offer. 

General Grant was sent to North Carolina to 
inform General Sherman of the conclusions of 



420 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the Cabinet in regard to his agreement with John- 
ston, and to take such steps as might be necessary 
to secnre the surrender of Johnston's army on the 
same terms of Lee's surrender. 

The following correspondence announces the 
result of General Grant's mission to Sherman : 

New York, May 1. 

The Herald's Washington special says: "General Grant has 
returned in the most excellent spirits. He expresses much 
gratification at the prompt execution of the orders of the Gov- 
ernment in reference to the agreement between General Sherman 
and Joe Johnston. General Sherman met the lieutenant general 
twenty miles from the front. He received the order of disappro- 
val with most commendable good grace. There was no hesitation, 
no murmuring, nor any expression of dissatisfaction at the disap- 
proval of the terms entered into between him and the rebel gen- 
eral, but without any delay or argument in defense of the course 
previously pursued, General Sherman and his generals, with a 
true soldierly spirit, set to work with alacrity to carry out the 
views of the Government communicated by General Grant. 
Within five minutes a dispatch was sent to Johnston terminating 
the armistice. Upon the receipt of the notification by the rebel 
pickets, orders were given for our troops in the rear to move up 
to the front. In a few hours General Frank Blair, with his corps, 
was in motion. General Sherman had informed Johnston that 
the Government would not sanction the terms proposed, and that 
he should immediately resume hostilities. Immediately upon 
receipt of this notice, Johnston sent back a flag of truce, asking 
an interview with Sherman to arrange other terms of surrender, 
which was promptly made upon the basis of the terms given to 
General Lee." 

The New York Tribune's Washington special says : " General 
Grant is reported to have said that when he informed General 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 421 

Sherman of the terms he had forwarded to Washington, the latter 
frankly admitted that he had made a mistake in not having it put 
in writing that slavery was dead, but that was the understanding 
between them. As to permitting the rebel legislatures to assem- 
ble, he agreed to that because he had just learned that the Vir- 
ginia Legislature was permitted to assemble by the authority of 
the President, and in the absence of official instructions, he inter- 
preted the President's desire to be that the rebel civil govern- 
ments should be retained for the preservation of order, and to 
avoid maintaining a military force in those States, as well as to 
do away with the irritation likely to grow out of military govern- 
ment. As to the amnesty, it was only to cover officers and sol- 
diers. When his attention was called to the wording, he replied* 
with much spirit, 'That doesn't express the understanding 
between us.' " 

It cannot be denied that the agreement between 
Sherman and Johnston was received by the country 
with astonishment and universal regret. Various 
explanations have been given of the course of the 
general in this matter. 

It has been said that Sherman signed, and for- 
warded to Washington, the agreement, simply for 
the consideration and action of the proper authori- 
ties. That, so far as he was concerned, he neither 
approved nor disapproved the terms of agreement. 
The promptness with which he carried out the 
will of the Government, when made known to him 
by the lieutenant general, certainly gives some 
plausibility to this opinion. 

. It has also been stated that the magnanimity of 
our great and good President, who had fallen by 



422 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

the hand of the cowardly assassin, and the mag- 
nanimity of General Grant to Lee and his army, 
had impressed Sherman with the idea that mag- 
nanimity was the order of the day, and that he, 
therefore, determined to outflank them all in this 
respect. 

"Whatever may have been Sherman's reasons for 
his course in this matter, let it not be forgotten 
that if he was not equal to Johnston and his coun- 
selors in diplomacy, he was more than a match 
for them in the field and with the sword. 

This mistake, or blunder, if it may be so called, 
did not have its origin in any special love for slave- 
ry, or desire to preserve that wretched and fallen 
institution, or from any shadow of feeling that 
might be characterized disloyal. 

The following extracts from letters written by 
Sherman to subordinate commanders, and other 
parties, daring the war, together with other docu- 
ments in previous chapters of this volume, will give 
to the reader very clear views of his opinions on 
several questions that were necessarily connected 
with the prosecution of the war. The war and its 
relation to the Government, subjects which in both 
cases have led to much speculation among poli- 
ticians and writers, are discussed by the general 
from a military stand-point, which probably will 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 423 

prove the best and most successful in the end. He 

says : 

" The war which prevails in our land is essentially a war of 
racef. The Southern people entered into a clear compact of 
government, but still maintained a species of separate interests, 
history and prejudices. These latter became stronger and 
stronger, till they have led to a war, which has developed fruits 
of the bitterest kind. 

"We of the North are, beyond all question, right in our lawful 
cause, but we are not bound to ignore the fact that the South 
have prejudices which form part of their nature, and which they 
cannot throw off without an effort of reason or the slower pro- 
cess of natural change. Now the question arises, should we 
treat as absolute enemies all in the South who differ from us in 
opinion or prejudices — kill or disable them ? Or, should we give 
them time to think, and gradually change their conduct so as to 
conform to the new order of things which is slowly and gradually 
creeping into their country ? 

" When men take arms to resist our rightful authority, we are 
compelled to use force, because all reason and argument cease 
when arms are resorted to. When the provisions, forage, horses, 
mules, wagons, etc., are used by our enemy, it is clearly our 
duty and right to take them, because otherwise they may be used 
against us. 

" In like manner, all houses left vacant by an inimical people 
are clearly our right, or such as are needed as store-houses, 
hospitals and quarters." 

In another place : 

"For my part, I believe that this war is the result of false 
political doctrine, for which we are all as a people responsible, 
viz. : that any and every people have a right to self-government ; 
and I would give all chances to reflect, and when in error to 
recant. 



424 

"In this belief, while I assert for our Government the highest 
military prerogatives, I am willing to bear in patience that politi- 
cal nonsense of slave-rights, State rights, freedom of conscience, 
freedom of press, and such other trash as have deluded the 
Southern people into war, anarchy, "bloodshed and the foulest 
crimes that have disgraced any time or any people. 

"I know slave owners, finding themselves in possession of a 
species of property in opposition to the growing sentiment of the 
whole civilized world, conceived their property in danger, and 
foolishly appealed to war ; and by skilful political handling in- 
volved with them the whole South in the doctrine of error and 
prejudice. I believe that some of the rich and slaveholding are 
prejudiced to an extent that nothing but death and ruin will ex- 
tinguish; but hope that as the poorer and industrial classes of 
the South realize their relative weakness, and their dependence 
upon the fruits of the earth, and the good-will of their fellow- 
men, they will not only discover the error of their ways, and 
repent of their hasty action, but bless those who persistently 
maintained a Constitutional Government, strong enough to sus- 
tain itself, protect its citizens, and promise peaceful homes to 
millions yet unborn." 

His opinions in regard to the rights of the Gov- 
ernment, and the inevitable consequences of a 
much longer continuance of the war, are still more 
apt, forcible and logical. He writes : 

" The Government of the United States has in North Alabama 
any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war — to take 
their lives, their homes, their every thing, because they cannot 
deny that war does exist there, and war is simply power unre- 
strained by constitution or compact. If they want eternal war- 
fare, well and good ; we will accept the issue and dispossess 
them, and put our friends in possession. I know thousands and 
millions of good people, who, at simple notice, would come to 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 425 

North Alabama and accept the elegant houses and plantations 

there. 

" If the people of Huntsville think differently, let them persist 

in war three years longer, and then they will not be consulted. 

Three years ago, by a little reflection and prudence they could 
1 have had a hundred years of peace and prosperity, but they 
i preferred war. Very well; last year they could have saved their 
| slaves, but now, it is too late — all the powers of earth cannot 

restore to them their slaves any more than their grandfathers. 

Next year their lands will be taken, for in war we can take them, 
1 and rightfully, too, and another year they may beg in vain foi 
] their lives. A people who will persevere in war beyond a cer- 
I tain limit ought to know the consequences. Many, many people, 
; with less pertinacity than the South, have been wiped out oi 

national existence." 

On the question of guerrillas, perhaps the moe; 

i difficult of all the problems of the war, the general 
has shown his soundness of policy. We recom- 

I mend his views to the particular attention of all 
officers. In a letter written from Kenesaw Moun- 
tain, Georgia, to General Burb ridge, commanding 
in Kentucky during the raid of Morgan in the 
summer of '64, the general spoke upon the subject 
of the raid freely, the substance of his letter being 
summed up by himself as follows : 

" 1st. You may order all your post and district commanders 
that guerillas are not soldiers, but wild beasts, unknown to the 
usages of war. To be recognized as soldiers, they must be en- 
listed, enrolled, officered, uniformed, armed and equipped, by 
recognized belligerent power, and must, if detailed from a main 
ij army, be of sufficient strength, with written orders from some 
army commander, to do some military thing. Of course we hava 



426 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

recognized the Confederate Government as a belligerent power 
but deny their right to our lands, territories, rivers, coasts, and 
nationality — admitting the right to rebel and move to some other 
country, where laws and customs are more in accordance with 
their own ideas and prejudices. 

"2d. The civil power being insufficient to protect life and~pro- 
perty, ex necessitate rei, to prevent anarchy, < which nature abhors,' 
the military steps in, and is rightful, constitutional, and lawful. 
Under this law everybody can be made to ' stay at home and 
mind his and her own business,' and if they won't do that, can 
be sent away where they cannot keep their honest neighbors in 
fear of danger, robbery and insult. 

" 3d. Your military commanders, provost marshals and other 
agents may arrest all males and females who have encouraged or 
harbored guerillas and robbers, and you may cause them to be 
collected in Louisville, and when you have enough — say three or 
four hundred — I will cause them to be sent down the Mississippi, 
through their guerilla gauntlet, and by a sailing ship send them 
to a land where they may take negroes and make a colony, with 
laws and a future of their own. If they won't live in peace in 
such a garden as Kentucky, why, we will send them to another, 
if not a better, land, and surely this would be a kindness to 
them, and a God's blessing to Kentucky." 

One of the greatest embarrassments experienced 
by our armies arose out of the hostility of the non- 
combatants of the South. Upon this point the 
general also speaks. He says : 

"But a question also arises as to dwellings used by women, 
children and non-combatants. So long as non-combatants remain 
in their houses, and keep to their accustomed business, their 
opinions and prejudices can in nowise influence the war, and, 
therefore, should not be noticed. But if any one comes out into 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS, 427 

the public streets, and creates disorder, he or she should be pun- 
ished, restrained or banished, either to the front or rear, as the 
officer in command adjudges. If the people, or any of them, 
keep up a correspondence with the parties in hostility, they are 
spies, and can be punished with death or minor punishment. 

" To those who submit to the rightful law and authority, all 
gentleness and forbearance ; but to the petulant and persistent 
secessionists, why, death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is 
disposed of the better. Satan and the rebellious saints of heaven 
were allowed a continuance of existence in hell merely to swell 
their just punishment. To such as would rebel against a gov- 
ernment so mild and just as ours was in peace, a punishment 
equal would not be unjust." 

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, \ 
In the Field, near Marietta, Ga., June 30, 1864. J 

Mrs. Anna Gilman Bowen, 

Baltimore, Md. — 
Dear Madam: Your welcome letter of June 18th came to ma 
here amid the sound of battle, and, as you say, little did I dream, 
when I knew you, playing as a school girl on Sullivan's Island 
beach, that I should control a vast army, pointing, like the swarm 
of Alaric toward the plains of the South. Why, oh, why is this ? 
If I know my own heart, it beats as warmly as ever toward those 
kind and generous families that greeted us with such warm hos- 
pitality in days long past but still present in memory ; and to-day 
were Frank and Mrs. Porcher, and Eliza Gilman, and Mary Lamb, 
and Margaret Blake, the Barksdales, the Quashis, the Priors, 
indeed any and all of our cherished circle, their children, or even 
their children's children, to come to me as of old, the stern 
feeling of duty and conviction would melt as snow before the 
genial sun, and I believe I would strip my own children that they 
might be sheltered ; and yet they call me barbarian, vandal, and 
monster, and all the epithets that language can invent that aro 
eignificant of malignity and hate. All I pretend to say is, oa 



428 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHEKMAN, 

earth as in heaven man must submit to some arbiter. He must 
not throw off his allegiance to his government or his God without 
just reason and cause. The South had no cause — not even a 
pretext. Indeed, by her unjustifiable course, she has thrown 
away the proud history of the past, and laid open her fair country 
to the tread of devastating war. She bantered and bullied us to 
the conflict. Had we declined battle, America would have sunk 
back, coward and craven, meriting the contempt of all mankind. 
As a nation, we were forced to accept battle, and that once begun, 
it has gone on till the war has assumed proportions at which even 
we, in the hurly-burly, sometimes stand aghast. I would not 
subjugate the South in the sense so offensively assumed, but I 
would make every citizen of the land obey the common law, 
submit to the same that we do — no worse, no better — our equals, 
and not our superiors. I know, and you know that there were 
young men in our day, now no longer young — but who control 
their fellows — who assumed to the gentlemen of the South, a su- 
periority of courage and manhood, and boastingly defied us of 
Northern birth to arms. God knows how reluctantly we accepted 
the issue, but once the issue joined, like in other ages, the Nor- 
thern race, though slow to anger, once aroused, are more terrible 
than the more inflammable of the South. Even yet my heart bleeds 
when I see the carnage of battle, the desolation of homes, the 
bitter anguish of families, but the very moment the men of the 
South say that instead of appealing to war they should have ap- 
pealed to reason, to our Congress, to our courts, to religion, and 
to the experience of history, then will I say Peace — Peace; go 
back to your point of error, and resume your places as American 
citizens, with all their proud heritages. Whether I shall live to 
see this period is problematical, but you may, and may tell your 
mother and sisters that I never forgot one kind look or greeting, 
or ever wished to efface its remembrance ; but in putting on the 
armor of war I did it that our common country should not perish 
in infamy and dishonor. I am married, I have a wife and six 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 429 

children living in Lancaster, Ohio. My course has been an 
eventful one, but I hope when the clouds of anger and passion 
are dispersed and truth emerges bright and clear, you and all who 
knew me in early years will not blush that we were once dear 
friends. Tell Eliza for me that I hope she may live to realize 
that the doctrine of " secession" is as monstrous in our civil code 
as disobedience was in the Divine law. And should the fortunes 
of war ever bring you or your sisters, or any of our old clique 
under the shelter of my authority, I do not believe they will have 
cause to regret it. 

Give my love to your children, and the assurance of my 
respects to your honored husband. 

Truly, 

W. T, SHERMAN. 

The reader should consider, without prejudice, 
the contents of this chapter. 

Remember the gallant bearing of Sherman at 
the battle of Bull Run ; his efficiency in Kentucky 
while confronting a powerful Confederate army 
with a handful of men ; his heroic bearing on the 
bloody field of Shiloh, and how he saved the day 
and the army from destruction ; his march to and 
the siege and capture of Corinth ; his soldierly and 
fearless bearing in the campaigns against Vicks- 
burg ; his long and perilous march from Memphis 
to Chattanooga ; see him on the formidable heights 
of Lookout Mountain and Missionary Ridge, thun- 
dering away at the enemy above the clouds ; follow 
him in his rapid march to the relief of Knoxville 
before the blood and sweat of battle had been 



430 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

wiped from his face ; then go with him through 
the expedition of central Mississippi ; follow him 
back to Chattanooga, and from thence through the 
most wonderful campaign the world ever wit- 
nessed; a campaign which ended with the sur- 
render of Johnston? s army to Sherman on the 26th day 
of April, 1865, and which gave the finishing blow to the 
Rebellion ; remember and consider all these facts, 
and then tell me, do you not see in Major-Gen eral 
W. T. Sherman a patriot, soldier and hero ? Un- 
der God, does not our country owe to this man a 
debt of gratitude ? 



CHAPTER XVI. 

SHERMAN'S OFFICIAL REPORT AND FAREWELL ADDRESS 

THE MARCH BY WAY OF RICHMOND TO WASHINGTON — 

THE GRAND MILITARY REVIEW OFFICIAL REPORT AND 

FAREWELL ADDRESS. 

Since the previous chapter was written, the grand 
army of Gen. Sherman marched to "Washington 
City by way of Richmond, Va., where it took part 
in the most magnificent military review that the 
world has ever witnessed, and since that time 
Sherman has issued his official report and farewell 
address to his army. With these important docu- 
ments we close this volume, leaving the reader free 
to draw his own conclusions from the statements 
of General Sherman. 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S OFFICIAL REPORT. 

[ Published under Authority of the Committee of Congress on the Conduct 
of the War.] 

Washington, May 22, 1865. 
Major-General William T. Sherman sworn and examined. 
By the Chairman — 
Q. What is your rank in the army ? 
A. I am a Major-General in the regular army. 



432 

Q. As your negotiations with the rebel General Johnston, in 
relation to his surrender, has been the subject of much public 
comment, the committee desire you to state all the facts and cir- 
cumstances in regard to it that you deem of public interest, or 
which you wish the public to know. 

A. On the loth day of April last 1 was at Raleigh, in command 
of an army composed of three armies ; the Army of the Ohio, 
the Army of the Cumberland, and the Army of Tennessee. My 
enemy was General Joseph E. Johnston, of the Confederate army, 
who commanded about 50,000 men, retreating along the railroad 
from Raleigh to Hillsboro, Greensboro, Salisbury and Charlotte. 
I commenced pursuit by crossing the curve of that road in the 
direction of Ashboro and Charlotte. After the head of my col- 
umn had crossed the Cape Fear River, at Aven's Ferry, I received 
a communication from General Johnston, and answered it ; copies 
of which I sent promptly to the War Department, with a letter 
addressed to the Secretary of War, as follows : 

Headquarters Military Division of the Mississippi, \ 
in the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 15, 1865. J 

General U. S. Grant, and Secretary op War : 

I send copies of a correspondence begun with General Johnston, 
which I think will be followed by terms of capitulation. I will 
grant the same terms as General Grant gave General Lee, and be 
careful not to complicate any points of civil policy. If any cav- 
alry has started towards me, caution them that they must be pre- 
pared to find our work done. It is now raining in torrents, and 
I shall await General Johnston's reply here, and will prepare to 
meet him in person at Chapel Hill. 

I have invited Governor Vance to return to Raleigh with the 
civil officers of his State. I have met ex-Governor Graham, 
Messrs. Badger, Moore, Holden and others, all of whom agree 
that the war is over, and that the States of the South must re- 
sume their allegiance, subject to the Constitution and laws of 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 433 

Congress, and must submit to the national arms. This great fact 
once admitted, all the details are easy of arrangement. 

(Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General. 

I met General Johnston in person, at a house five miles from 
Durham Station, under a flag of truce. After a few preliminary- 
remarks, he said to me, that since Lee had surrendered his army 
at Appomattox Court House, of which he had just been advised, 
he looked upon further opposition by him as the greatest possible 
of crimes; that he wanted to know whether I would make him 
any general concessions ; anything by which he could maintain 
his hold and control of his army, and prevent its scattering ; any- 
thing to satisfy the great yearning of their people; if so, he 
thought we could arrange terms satisfactory to both parties. He 
wanted to embrace the condition and fate of all the armies of the 
Southern Confederacy, to the Rio Grande, "to make one job of 
it," as he termed it. 

I asked him where his powers were, whether he could command 
and control the fate of all the armies to the Rio Grande. He 
answered, that he thought he could obtain the power, but he did 
not possess it at that moment. He did not know where Mr. Davis 
was, but he thought if I would give him time he could find Mr. 
Breckinridge, whose orders would be obeyed everywhere, and 
he could pledge to me his personal faith, that whatever he 
undertook to do would be done. 

I had had frequent correspondence with the late President of 
the United States, with the Secretary of War, with General 
Halleck and with General Grant. And the general impression 
left upon my mind was, that if a settlement could be made, con- 
sistent with the Constitution of the United States, the laws of 
Congress, and the Proclamation of the President, they would be 
not only willing, but pleased, thus to terminate the war by one 
single stroke of the pen. 
ft -8 ? 



434 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

I needed time to finish the railroad from the Neuse Bridge up 
to Raleigh, and thought I could put in four or five days' good time 
in making repairs to my road, even if I had to send the propo- 
sitions to Washington. I therefore consented to delay twenty- 
four hours, to enable General Johnston to procure what would 
satisfy me as to his authority and ability as a military man, to 
do what he undertook to do. I therefore consented to meet him 
the next day, the 17th, at 12 o'clock noon, at the same place. 

We did meet again. After a general interchange of courtesies, 
he remarked that he was there prepared to satisfy me that he 
could fulfil the terms of our conversation of the day before. He 
then asked me what I was willing to do. I told him, in the first 
place, that I could not deal with anybody except men recognized 
by us as belligerents, because no military man could go beyond 
that fact. The Attorney General has since so decided, and every 
man of common sense so understood it before ; there was no dif- 
ference of opinion on that point. As to the men and officers 
composing the Confederate armies, I told him that the President 
of the United States, by a published proclamation, had enabled 
every man of the Southern Confederate army, of the rank of 
colonel and under, to procure and obtain amnesty, by simply 
taking the oath of allegiance to the United States, and agreeing 
to go to his house and live in peace. The terms of General Grant 
to General Lee extended the same principles to officers of the 
rank of brigadier general and upward, including the highest 
officer in the Confederate army, viz., General Lee, the comman- 
der-in-chief. I was therefore willing to proceed with him upon 
the same principles. 

Then a conversation arose as to what form of government they 
were to have in the South. Were the States there to be dis- 
severed ? And were the people to be denied representation in 
Congress ? Were the people there to be, in the common language 
of the people of the South, the slaves of the people of the North? 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 435 

Of course, I said, " No ; we desire that you shall regain your po- 
sitions as citizens of the United States, free, and equal to us in all 
respects, and with representation upon the condition of sub- 
mission to the lawful authority of the United States, as defined 
by the Constitution, the United States Courts, and the authorities 
of the United States, supported by these courts." 

He then remarked to me that General Breckinridge, a major 
general in the Confederate army, was near by, and, if I had no 
objection, he would like to have him present. I recalled his at- 
tention to the fact that I had, on the day before, explained to him. 
that any negotiations between us must be confined to belligerents. 
He replied that he understood that perfectly. "But," said he, 
"Breckinridge, whom you do not know, save by public rumor as 
the Secretary of War, is, in fact, a major general." I replied, 
"I have no objection to any military officer you desire being 
present, as a part of your personal staff." I myself had my own 
officers near me at call. 

Breckinridge came, a stranger to me, to whom I had never 
spoken in my life, and he joined in the conversation. While that 
conversation was being carried on, a courier arrived and handed 
to General Johnston a package of papers. He and Breckinridge 
sat down and looked over them for some time, and put them away 
in their pockets. What they were I know not. But one was a 
slip of paper, written, as General Johnston told me, by Mr. 
Regan, Postmaster General of the Southern Confederacy. They 
seemed to talk about it, sotto voce, and finally handed it to me. I 
glanced over it. It was preceded by a preamble and closed with 
a few general terms. I rejected it at once. We then discussed 
matters ; talked about slavery — talked about everything. There 
was a universal assent that slavery was as dead as anything could 
be ; that it was one of the issues of the war, long since deter- 
mined. And even General Johnston laughed at the folly of the 
Confederate Government in raising negro soldiers, whereby they 
gave us all the points of the case. I told them that slavery had 



436 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 



been treated by us as a dead institution, first by one class of men 
from the initiation of the war ; and then from the date of the 
Emancipation Proclamation of President Lincoln by another, and 
finally by the assent of all parties. 

As to reconstruction, I told them I did not know what the views 
of the Administration were. Mr. Lincoln had, up to that time, in 
letters and by telegrams to me, encouraged me by all the words 
that could be used in general terms, to believe in, not only his 
willingness, but his desire, that I should make terms with civil 
authorities, governors and legislators ; even as far back as 1863. 
It then occurred to me that I might write off some general prop- 
ositions, meaning little or meaning much, according to the con- 
struction of parties ; what I would term " glittering generalities," 
and send them to Washington, which I could do in four days. 
That would enable the new President to give me a cue to his 
policy in the important juncture which was then upon us. For 
the war was over. The highest military authorities of the South- 
ern Confederacy so confessed to me, openly, unconcealedly and 
repeatedly. 

I therefore drew up the memorandum (which has been pub- 
lished to the world, ) for the purpose of referring it to the proper 
authority of the United States, and enabling him to define to me 
what I might promise, simply to cover the pride of the Southern 
men, who thereby became subordinate to the laws of the United 
States, civil and military. I made no concessions to General 
Johnston's army, of the troops under his direction and immediate 
control. And if any concessions were made in those general 
terms, they were made because I then believed, and I now believe, 
they would have delivered into the hands of the United States 
the absolute control of every Confederate officer and soldier, all 
their muster-rolls and all their arms. It would save us all the inci- 
dental expenses resulting from the military occupation of that 
country by provost marshals, provost guards, military governors 
and all the machinery by which alone military power can reach 



nen 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 437 

the people of a civilized country. It would have surrendered to 
us the armies of Dick Taylor and Kirby Smith, both of them ca- 
pable of doing infinite mischief to us by exhausting the resources 
of the whole country upon which we were to depend for the 
future extinguishment of our debt, forced upon us by their 
wrongful and rebellious conduct. 

I never designed to shelter any human being from any liability 
incurred, in consequence of past acts, to the civil tribunals of our 
country ; and I do not believe a fair and manly interpretation of 
my terms can so construe them, for the words " United States 
Courts," "United States authorities," "limitations of Executive 
power," occur in every paragraph. 

And if they seemingly yield terms better than the public would 
desire to be given to the Southern people, if studied clearly and 
well, it will be found that there is an abundant submission on 
their part to the Government of the United States, either through 
its executive, legislative or judicial authorities. Every step in 
the progress of these negotiations was reported punctually, 
clearly and fully by the most rapid means of communication that 
I had. And yet I neglected not one single precaution to reap 
the full benefits of my position, in case the Government amended, 
altered or absolutely annulled these terms. 

As these matters are necessarily mingled with the military his- 
tory of the period, I would like, at this point, to submit to the 
committee my official report, which has been in the hands of the 
proper officer, viz : General Rawlings, Chief of Staff of the 
Army of the United States, since about the 12th instant. It was 
made by me at Manchester, Va., after I had returned from Sa- 
vannah, whither I went to open up the Savannah River and reap 
the fruits of my negotiations with General Johnston, and to 
give General Wilson, far in the interior, a safe and sure base 
from which he could draw the necessary supply of clothing and 
food for his command. 



438 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

It was only after I had fulfilled all this that I learned, for the 
first time, through the public press, that my conduct had been 
animadverted upon, not only by the Secretary of War, but by 
General Halleck and the press of the country at large. I did 
feel hurt and wronged that Mr. Stanton coupled with the terms 
of my memorandum confided to him, a copy of a telegram to 
General Grant which he had never sent to me. He knew, on the 
contrary, that when he was at Savannah I had negotiations 
with civil parties there, for he was present in my room when 
those parties were conferring with me, and I wrote him a letter 
setting forth many points of it, in which I said I aimed to make 
a split in Jeff. Davis' dominions, segregating Georgia from their 
cause. Those were civil negotiations, and far from being dis- 
couraged from making them, I was encouraged by Secretary 
Stanton himself to make them. 

By coupling the note to General Grant with my memorandum, 
he gave the world fairly and clearly to infer that I was in pos- 
session of it. Now, I was not in possession of it, and have 
reason to know that Mr. Stanton knew I was not in possession 
of it. 

Next met me, General Halleck's telegram, indorsed by Mr. 
Stanton, in which they publicly avowed an act of perfidy, viz : 
the violation of my truce, which I had a right to make, and 
which, by the laws of war, and by the laws of Congress, is 
punishable by death, and no other punishment. 

Next they ordered an army to pursue my enemy, who was 
known to be surrendering to me, in the presence of General 
Grant himself, their superior officer, and finally they sent orders 
to General Wilson and to General Thomas, my subordinates, act- 
ing under me on a plan of the most magnificent scale, admirably 
executed, to defeat my orders and to thwart the interests of the 
Government of the United States. 

I did feel indignant ; I do feel indignant. As to my own honor, 
I can protect it. In my letter of the 15th of April, I used this 






AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 439 

language : "I have invited Governor Vance to return to Raleigh 
with the civil officers of his State." I did so because President 
Lincoln had himself encouraged me to a similar course with the 
Governor of Georgia, when I was in Atlanta. And here was the 
opportunity which the Secretary of War should have taken to put 
me on my guard against negotiations with civil authorities, if such 
were the settled policy of our Government. Had President 
Lincoln lived, I know he would have sustained me. 

The following is my report, which I desire to have incorporated 
into and made a part of my testimony: 

REPORT. 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ^ 
In the Field, City Point, Va., May 9, 18G5. J 

General John A. Rawlings, Chief of Staff, Washington, D. C. : 

General — My last official report brought the history of events, 
as connected with the armies in the field, subject to my immediate 
command, down to the 1st of April, when the Army of the Ohio, 
Major General J. M. Schofield commanding, lay at Goldsboro, 
with detachments distributed so as to secure and cover our routes 
of communication and supply, back to the sea at Wilmington and 
Morehead City; Major General A. H. Terry, with the Tenth Corps, 
being at Faxon's Depot. The Army of the Tennessee, Major Gen- 
eral 0. 0. Howard commanding, was encamped to the front and 
right of Goldsboro, and the Army of the Georgia, Major General H. 
W. Slocum commanding, to its left and front. The cavalry, Brevet 
Major General Kilpatrick commanding, at Mount Olive. All were 
busy in repairing the wear and tear of our then recent hard 
march from Savannah, and in replenishing clothing and stores 
necessary for a further progress. I had previously, by letter 
and in person, notified the lieutenant general commanding the 
armies of the United States, that the 10th of April would be 
the earliest possible moment at which I could hope to have all 
things in readiness, and we were compelled to use our railroads 
to the very highest possible limit, in order to fulfil that promise. 



440 

Owing to a mistake in the railroad department in sending loco • 
motives and cars of the five foot gauge, we were limited to ihn 
use of the few locomotives and cars of the four feet eight and a 
half inch guage, already in North Carolina, with such of the old 
stock as was captured by Major General Terry at Wilmington and 
on his way up to Goldsboro. Yet such a judicious use was made 
of them, and such industry displayed in the railroad management 
by Generals Easton and Beckwith, and Colonel Wright and Mr. 
Van Dyne, that by the 10th of April our men were all seclad, the 
wagons reloaded, and a fair amount of forage accunnj!$&ipd ahead. 
In the meantime, Major General George Stoneman, In command 
of a division of cavalry, operating from East Tennessee, in con- 
nection with Major General George H. Thomas, in pursuance of 
my orders, had reached the railroad at Greensboro, N. C, and 
had made sad havoc with it ; and had pushed along it to Salis- 
bury, destroying en route bridges, culverts, depots, and all kinds 
of rebel supplies, and had extended the breach in the railroad 
down to the Catawba Bridge. This was fatal to the hostile armies 
of Lee and Johnston, who depended on that road for supplies, 
and as their ultimate line of retreat. Brevet Major General 
Wilson, also in command of the cavalry corps, organized by him- 
self, under special field orders No. — of — , in 1864, at Gayles- 
ville, Alabama, had started from the neighborhood of Decatur 
and Florence, Alabama, and moved straight into the heart of 
Alabama, on a route prescribed for General Thomas, after he 
had defeated Hood at Nashville, Tennessee. But the roads being 
too heavy for infantry, General Thomas had devolved the duty on 
that most energetic young cavalry officer, General Wilson, who, 
imbued with the proper spirit, has struck one of the best blows 
of the war at the waning strength of the Confederacy. His 
route was one never before touched by our troops, and afforded 
him abundant supplies as long as he was in motion, viz. : by Tus- 
caloosa, Selma, Montgomery, Columbus and Macon. Though in 
communication with him, I have not been able to receive as yet 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 441 

his full and detailed reports, which will in due time be published 
and appreciated. 

Lieutenant General Grant, also in immediate command of the 
armies about Richmond, had taken the initiative in that magnifi- 
cent campaign which, in less than ten days, compelled the evacua- 
tion of Richmond, and resulted in the destruction and surrender 
of the entire rebel Army of Virginia, under command of General 
Lee. The news of the battles about Petersburg reached me at 
Goldsboro on the 6th of April. Up to that time my purpose was 
to move rapidly northward, feigning on Raleigh, and striking 
straight for Burkesville, thereby interposing between Johnston 
and Lee. But the auspicious events in Virginia had changed the 
whole military problem, and in the expressive language c*f 
Lieutena*€ General Grant, the "Confederate armies of Lee and 
Johnston* beeame the " stragetic points." General Grant was 
fully able to take care of the former, and my task was to destroy 
or capture the latter. 

Johnston, at the time, April 6, had his army well in hand about 
Smithfield, interposing between me and Raleigh. I estimated his 
infantry and artillery at thirty-five thousand (35,000), and his 
cavalry at from six to ten thousand (6,000 to 10,000). He was 
superior to me in cavahy, so that I held General Kilpatrick in 
reserve at Mount Olive, with orders to recruit his horses, and be 
ready to make a sudden and rapid march on the 10th of April. 

At daybreak on the day appointed, all the beads of columns 
were in motion straight against the enemy; Major General Slo- 
cum taking the two direct roads for Smithfield, Major General 
O. O. Howard making a circuit by the right and feigning up the 
Weldon Road to disconcert the enemy's cavalry; Generals Terry 
and Kilpatrick moving on the west side of the Neuse River, and 
to reach the rear of the enemy, between Smithfield and Raleigh. 
General Schofield followed General Slocum in person. All the 
columns met, within six miles of Goldsboro, more or less cavalry, 
with the usual rail barricades, which were swept before us as 



442 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

chaff. And by ten o'clock on the morning of the llth, tlv Four- 
teenth Corps entered Smithfield, the Twentieth Corps olose at 
hand. Johnston had rapidly retreated across the Newe Xiver, 
and, having his railroad to lighten up his trains, could ^ctreat 
faster than we could pursue. The rains had also set in, making 
the resort to corduroy absolutely necessary, to pass even, ambu- 
lances. The enemy had burned the bridge at Smithfield, and, ;• 
soon as possible, Major General Slocum got up his pontoons, ar 
crossed over a division of the Fourteenth Corps. 

We there heard of the surrender of Lee's army, at Appomatto: 
Court House, Virginia, which was announced to the armies ii 
orders, and created universal joy. Not an officer or soldier of 
my armies but expressed a satisfaction that it had fallen to the 
lot of the Armies of the Potomac and James so gloriously to 
overwhelm and capture the entire army that had held them in 
check so long; and their success gave a new impulse to finish up 
our task. 

Without a moment's hesitation, we dropped our trains, and 
marched rapidly in pursuit to and through Raleigh, reaching 
that place at half-past seven in the morning, on the 13th, in a 
heavy rain. The next day the cavalry passed on through the rain 
to Durham's Station, the Fifteenth Corps following as far as Mor- 
risville Station, and the Seventeenth to Jones' Station. On the 
supposition that Johnston was tied to his railroad, as a line of 
retreat by Hillsboro, Greensboro, Salisbury and Charlotte, I had 
turned the other columns across the head of that road toward 
Ashboro (see special field orders, No. 55). The cavalry, Brevet 
Major General J. Kilpatrick commanding, was ordered to keep up 
a show of pursuit toward the "Company's Shops," in Alamancer 
county ; Major General 0. 0. Howard to turn the left by Hackney's 
Cross Roads, Pittsboro, St. Lawrence and Ashboro; Major Gen- 
eral H.W. Slocum to cross Cape Fear River at Aven's Ferry, and 
move rapidly by Carthage, Caledonia and Cox's Mills; Major 
General J. W. Schofield was to hold Raleigh and the road back, 
and with his spare force to follow an intermediate route. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 443 

By the 15th, though the rains were incessant, and the roads 
almost impracticable, Major General Slocum had the Fourteenth 
Corps, Brevet Major General Davis commanding, near Martha's 
Vineyard, with a pontoon bridge laid across Cape Fear River at 
Aven's Ferry, with the Twentieth Corps, Major General Mower 
commanding, in support; and Major General Howard had the 
Fifteenth and Seventeenth Corps stretched out on the roads 
toward Pittsboro, while General Kilpatrick held Durham Station 
and Chapel Hill University. Johnston's army was retreating 
rapidly on the roads from Hillsboro to Greensboro, he himself at 
Greensboro. 

Although out of place, as to time, I here invite all military 
critics who study the problems of war, to take their maps and 
compare the position of my army, on the 15th and 16th of April, 
with that of General Halleck, about Burkesville and Petersburg, 
Virginia, on the 26th of April, when, according to his telegram 
to Secretary Stanton, he offered to relieve me of the task of cut- 
ting off Johnston's retreat. Major General Stoneman, at the 
time, was at Statesville, and Johnston's only line of retreat was 
by Salisbury and Charlotte. It may be that General Halleck's 
troops can out-march mine, but there is nothing in their past 
history to show it. Or, it may be that General Halleck can 
inspire his troops with more energy of action. I doubt that, 
also, save and except in this single instance, when he knew the 
enemy was ready to surrender or " disperse," as advised by letter 
of April 18, addressed to him when chief of staff, at Washington 
City, and delivered into his hands by Major Hitchcock, of my 
army. 

Thus matters stood at the time I received General Johnston's 
first letter and made my answer of April 14th, copies of which were 
sent, with all expedition, to Lieutenant General Grant and the 
Secretary of War, with my letter of April 15th. I agreed to meet 
General Johnston, in person, at a point intermediate between our 
pickets, on the 17th, at noon, provided the position of the troops 



444 MAJ. GEN. W. T. 

remained statu quo. I was both willing and anxious thus to con- 
sume a few days, as it would enable Colonel Wright to finish our 
railroad to Raleigh. Two bridges had to be built and twelve 
miles of new road made. We had no iron, except by taking up 
that on the march from Goldsboro to Weldon. Instead of losing 
time, I gained in every way ; for every hour of delay possible was 
required to reconstruct the railroad to our rear and improve the 
condition of our wagon roads to the front, so desirable in case 
the negotiations failed, and we be forced to make the race of 
near two hundred miles to head off or catch Johnston, then 
retreating toward Charlotte. 

At noon of the day appointed, I met General Johnston for the 
first time in my life, although we had been exchanging shots 
constantly since May, 1863. Our interview was frank and soldier- 
like, and he gave me to understand that further war on the part 
of the Confederate troops was folly, that "the cause" was lost, 
and that every life sacrificed after the surrender of Lee's army 
was the highest possible crime. He admitted that the terms con- 
ceded to General Lee were magnanimous, and all he could ask ; 
but he did want some general concessions, that would enable him 
to allay the natural fears and anxieties of his followers, and enable 
him to maintain his control over them until they could be got 
back to the neighborhood of their homes, thereby saving the 
State of North Carolina the devastation inevitably to result from 
turning his men loose and impoverished on the spot ; and our 
pursuit across the State. He also wanted to embrace in the same 
general proposition the fate of all the Confederate armies that 
remained in existence. I never made any concession as to his 
own army, or assumed to deal finally and authoritatively in regard 
to any other. But it did seem to me that there was presented a 
chance for peace that might be deemed valuable to the Govern- 
ment of the United States, and was at least worthy the few days 
that would be consumed in reference. To push an army, whose 
commander had so frankly and honestly confessed his inability to 
cope with me, were cowardly and unworthy the brave men I led. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 445 

Inasmuch as General Johnston did not feel authorized to pledge 
his power over the armies in Texas, we adjourned to meet the 
next day at noon. I returned to Raleigh, and conferred freely 
with my general officers, every one of whom urged me to concede 
terms that might accomplish so complete and desirable an end. 
All dreaded the weary and laborious march after the fugitive 
and disbanding army back toward Georgia, over the very country 
where we had toiled so long. There was but one opinion ex- 
pressed, and if contrary ones were entertained, they were with- 
held, or indulged in only by that class who shun the light and 
the march, but are loudest, bravest, and fiercest, when danger is 
past. 

I again met General Johnston on the 18th, and we renewed the 
conversation. He satisfied me then of his power to disband the 
rebel armies in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas, as 
well as those in his immediate command, viz : North Carolina, 
South Carolina, Georgia and Florida. The points on which he 
expressed especial solicitude were lest their States should be dis- 
membered and denied representation in Congress, or any separate 
political existence whatever ; and the absolute disarming of his 
men would leave the South powerless, and exposed to depredations 
by wicked bands of assassins and robbers. 

The President's (Lincoln's) Message of 1864; his Amnesty 
Proclamation ; General Grant's terms to General Lee, substan- 
tially extending the benefit of that proclamation to all officers 
above the rank of a colonel ; the invitation to the Virginia Legis- 
lature to reassemble in Richmond, by General Weitzel, with the 
supposed approval of Mr. Lincoln and General Grant, then on 
the spot ; a firm belief that I had been fighting to reestablish the 
Constitution of the United States, and last, but not least, the gen- 
eral and universal desire to close a war any longer without organ- 
ized resistance, were the leading facts that induced me to pen the 
" memorandum " of April 18th, signed by myself and General 
Johnston. It was designed to be, and so expressed on its face, 



446 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

as a mere "basis" for reference to the President of the United 
States and constitutional commander-in-chief, to enable him, if 
he chose, at one blow to dissipate the military power of the Con- 
federacy, which had threatened the national safety for years. It 
admitted of modification, alteration and change. It had no 
appearance of an ultimatum, and by no false reasoning can it be 
construed into an usurpation of power on my part. I have my 
opinion on the questions involved, " and will stand by the 
memorandum :" but this forms no part of a military report. 

Immediately on my return to Raleigh, I dispatched one of my 
staff, Major Hitchcock, to Washington, enjoining him to be most 
prudent, and careful to avoid the spies and informers that would 
be sure to invest him by the way, and to say nothing to anybody 
until the President could make known to me his feelings and 
wishes in the matter. 

The news of President Lincoln's assassination (wrongly reported 
to me, by telegraph, as having occurred on the 11th,) reached me 
on the 17th, and was announced to my command on the same day, 
in field orders No. 56. I was duly impressed with its horrible 
atrocity and probable effect on the country. But when the pro- 
perty and interests of millions still living were involved, I saw 
no good reason why to change my course, but thought rather to 
manifest real respect for his memory by following, after his death, 
that policy which, if living, I felt certain he would have approved, 
or at least not rejected with disdain. 

Up to that hour I had never received one word of instruction, 
advice or counsel, as to the plan or policy of the Government, 
looking to a restoration of peace on the part of the rebel States 
of the South. Whenever asked for an opinion on the points in- 
volved, I had always evaded the subject. My letter to the Mayor 
of Atlanta has been published to the world, and I was not relieved 
by the War Department for it. My letter to Mr. , of Savan- 
nah, was shown by me to Mr. Stanton, before its publication, and 
all that my memory retains of his answer is, that he said, like 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 447 

my Letters generally, it was sufficiently " emphatic, and could not 
be misunderstood." Both of these letters asserted my belief 
that, according to Mr. Lincoln's proclamations and messages, 
when the people of the South had laid down their arms, and 
submitted to the lawful power of the United States, ipso facto the 
war was over as to them ; and furthermore, that if any State in 
rebellion would conform to the Constitution of the United States, 
"cease war," elect senators and representatives to Congress, if 
admitted, (of which each House of Congress alone is the judge,) 
that State becomes instanter as much in the Union as New York 
or Ohio. Nor was I rebuked for these expressions, though it was 
universally known and commented on at the time. And, again, 
Mr. Stanton in person, at Savannah, speaking of the terrific ex- 
pense of the war, and difficulty of realizing the money for the 
daily wants of Government, impressed me most forcibly with the 
necessity of bringing the war to a close as soon as possible, for 
financial reasons. 

On the evening of April 23d, Major Hitchcock reported his 
return to Morehead City with dispatches, of which fact General 
Johnston, at Hillsboro, was notified, so as to be ready in the 
morning for an answer. At six o'clock on the morning of the 
21th, Major Hitchcock arrived, accompanied by General Grant 
and members of his staff, who had not telegraphed the fact of 
his coming over our exposed roads, for prudential reasons. I 
soon learned that the memorandum was disapproved, without 
reasons assigned, and I was ordered to give the forty-eight hours' 
notice, and resume hostilities at the close of that time ; governing 
myself by the substance of a dispatch, then inclosed, dated March 
3d, twelve o'clock noon, at Washington, D. C ,from Secretary Stan- 
ton to General Grant, at City Point, but not accompanied by any 
part of the voluminous matter so liberally lavished on the public 
inthe New York journals of the 24th of April. That was the first 
and only time I ever saw that telegram, or had one word of in- 
structions on the important matters involved in it. And it does 



448 

seem strange to me that every bar-room loafer in New York can 
read in the morning journals "official" matter that is withheld 
from a general whose command extends from Kentucky to North 
Carolina. 

Within an hour a courier was riding from Durham Station to- 
ward Hillsboro, with notice to General Johnston of the suspension 
of the truce, and renewing my demand for the surrender of the 
command, (see two dispatches of April 24th, six o'clock in the 
morning,) and at twelve at noon I had the receipt of his picket 
officer. I therefore published my orders, No. 62, to the troops, ter- 
minating my truce at twelve at noon, on the 26th, and ordered all 
to be in readiness to march at that hour, on the routes prescribed 
in special field orders No. 55, of April 14th, from the positions held 
April 18th. General Grant had orders from the President to direct 
military movements, and I explained to him the exact position of 
the troops, and he approved of it most emphatically; but he did 
not relieve me or express a wish to assume command. 

All things were in readiness, when on the evening of the 25th, 
] received another letter from General Johnston, asking another 
interview to renew negotiations. General Grant not only ap- 
proved, but urged me to accept, and I appointed a meeting at our 
former place, at noon of the 26th, the very hour fixed for the re- 
newal of hostilities. General Johnston was delayed by an 
accident to his train, but at two o'clock in the afternoon arrived. 
We then consulted, concluded and signed, the final terms of ca- 
pitulation. These were taken by me back to Raleigh, submitted 
to General Grant, and met his immediate approval and signature. 
General Johnston was not even aware of the presence of General 
Grant at Raleigh at the time. There was surrendered to us the 
second great army of the so-called Confederacy ; and, though un- 
due importance has been given the so-called "negotiations" 
which preceded it, and a rebuke and public disfavor cast upon 
me entirely unwarranted by the facts, I rejoice in saying that it 
was accomplished without further ruin and devastation to the 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 449 

country — without the loss of a single life to those gallant men 
who had followed me from the Mississippi to the Atlantic ; and 
without subjecting brave men to the ungracious task of pursuing 
a fleeing foe that did not want to fight. As for myself, I know 
my motives, and challenge the instance during the past four years, 
when an armed and defiant foe stood before me that I did not go 
in for a fight. And I would blush for shame if I had ever in- 
sulted or struck a fallen foe. The instant the terms of surrender 
were approved by General Grant I made my orders No. 56, as- 
signing to each of my subordinate commanders his share of the 
work, and with General Grant's approval, made special field or- 
ders No. 66, putting in motion my old army, no longer required 
in Carolina, northward for Richmond. 

General Grant left Raleigh at nine o'clock on the morning of the 
27th, and I glory in the fact that during his three days' stay with 
me, I did not detect in his language or manner one particle of 
abatement of the confidence, respect and affection that have ex- 
isted between us throughout all the various events of the past 
\ war ; and though we have honestly differed in other cases as well 
as this, still we respect each other's honest convictions. I still 
adhere to my then opinions, that by a few general concessions — 
"glittering generalities" — all of which in the end must and will 
be conceded to the organized States of the South, this clay there 
would not be an armed battalion opposed to us within the broad 
area of the dominions of the United States. Robbers and as- 
sassins must, in any event, result from the disbandment of large 
armies, but even these would be, and can be, taken care of by the 
local civil authorities, without being made a charge upon the 
national treasury. 

On the morning of the 28th, having concluded all business re- 
quiring my personal attention at Raleigh, and having conferred 
with every army commander, and delegated to him the authority 
necessary for his future action, I dispatched my headquarters 
wagons by land along with the Seventeenth Corps, the office in 



450 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

charge of General "Webster, to Alexandria, Va., and in person, 
accompanied only by my personal staff, hastened to Savannah, to 
direct matters in the interior of Georgia and South Carolina. 

I had received across the rebel telegraph wires, cypher dis- 
patches from General Wilson to the effect that he was in receipt 
of my order, No. 35, and would send General Upton's division to 
Augusta, and General McCook's division to Tallahassee, to receive 
the surrender of those garrisons, take charge of the public prop- 
erty, and execute the paroles required by the terms of surrender. 
He reported a sufficiency of forage for his horses in Southwest 
Georgia, but asked me to send him a supply of clothing, sugar, 
coffee, etc., by way of Augusta, Georgia, where he could get it by 
rail. 1 therefore went rapidly to Goldsboro and Wilmington, 
reaching the latter city at ten in the morning of the 29th, and the 
same day embarked for Hilton Head on the blockade runner 
Russie, Captain A. H. Smith. 

I found General Q. A. Gillmore, commanding Department of the 
South, at Hilton Head, on the evening of April 30th, and ordered 
him to send to Augusta at once, what clothing and small stores 
he could spare, for General Wilson, and to open up a line of cer- 
tain communication and supply with him at Macon. Within an 
hour, the captured steamboats Jeff. Davis and Amazon, well 
adapted to the shallow and crooked navigation of the Savannah 
River, were being loaded; the one at Savannah and the other at 
Hilton Head. The former started up the river on the 1st of May, 
in charge of a very intelligent officer, (whose name I cannot 
recall, ) and forty-eight men, ( all the boat could carry, ) with 
orders to occupy temporarily, the United States Arsenal at Au- 
gusta, and open up communication with General Wilson at Macon, 
in the event that General Upton's division of cavalry was not 
already there. The Amazon followed the next day, and General 
Gillmore had made the necessary orders for a brigade of infantry 
to be commanded by General Molyneaux, to follow by a land 
march to Augusta, as its permanent garrison. Another brigade 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 451 

of infantry was ordered to occupy Orangeburg, South Carolina, 
the point furthest in the interior that can at present be reached 
by rail from the sea coast (Charleston). 

On the 1st of May I went to Savannah, where General Gilmore 
also joined me, and the arrangements ordered for the occupation 
of Augusta were consummated. At Savannah I found the city in 
the most admirable police, under direction of Brevet Major Gen- 
eral Grover, and the citizens manifested the most unqualified joy 
to hear that so far as they were concerned, the war was over. 
All classes, Union men as well as former rebels, did not conceal 
however, the apprehensions naturally arising from a total igno- 
rance of the political conditions to be attached to their future 
state. Anything at all would be preferable to this dread 
uncertainty. 

On the evening of the 2d of May I returned to Hilton Head, 
and there for the first time, received the New York papers of 
April 28th, containing Secretary Stanton's dispatch of nine in the 
forenoon of the 27th of April, to General Dix, including General 
Halleck's, from Richmond, of nine in the evening the night before, 
which seems to have been rushed with extreme haste before an 
excited public, viz : on the morning of the 28th. You will ob- 
serve from the dates, that these dispatches were running back 
and forth from Richmond and Washington to New York, and 
there published, while General Grant and I were in Raleigh, 
North Carolina, adjusting to the best of our ability, the terms of 
surrender of the only remaining formidable rebel army in ex- 
istence at the time east of the Mississippi River. Not one word 
of intimation had been sent to me of the displeasure of the Gov- 
ernment with my official conduct, but only the naked disapproval 
of a skeleton memorandum, sent properly for the action of the 
President of the United States. The most objectionable features 
of my memorandum had already (April 24th) been published to 
the world, in violation of official usage ; and the contents of my 
accompanying letters to General Halleck, General Grant, and 



452 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Secretary Stanton, of even date, though at hand, were suppressed. 
In all these letters I stated clearly and distinctly that Johnston's 
army would not fight, but if pushed, would "disband" and scatter 
into small and dangerous guerilla parties, as injurious to the in- 
terests ot the United States as to the people themselves ; that all 
parties admitted that the rebel cause of the South was aban- 
doned ; that the negroes were free, and that the temper of all 
was most favorable to a lasting peace. I say all these opinions 
of mine were withheld from the public with a seeming purpose ; 
and I do contend that my official experience and former services, 
as well as my past life and familiarity with the people and ge- 
ography of the South, entitled my opinions to at least a decent 
respect. 

Although this dispatch ( Mr. Stanton's, of April 27th, ) was 
printed " official," it had come to me only in the questionable 
shape of a newspaper paragraph, headed " Sherman's truce dis- 
regarded." I had already done what General Wilson wanted me 
to do, viz: Had sent him supplies of clothing and food, with 
clear and distinct orders and instructions how to carry out in 
Western Georgia the terms for the surrender of arms, and pa- 
roling the prisoners made by General Johnston's capitulation of 
April 26th, and had properly and most opportunely ordered Gen- 
eral Gillmore to occupy Orangeburg and Augusta, stragetic points 
of great value at all times, in peace and war. But as the Secre- 
tary had taken upon himself to order my subordinate generals to 
disobey my " orders," I explained to General Gillmore that I would 
no longer confuse him or General Wilson with " orders " that 
might conflict with the Secretary, which as reported, were sent, 
not through me, but in open disregard of me and of my lawful 
authority. 

It now becomes my duty to paint, in justly severe character, 
the still more offensive and dangerous matter of General Halleck's 
dispatch of April 26th, to the Secretary of War, embodied in his 
to General Dix, of April 27th. General Halleck had been chief- 
of-staff of the army at Washington, in which capacity he received 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 453 

my official letter of April 18th, wherein I wrote clearly that if 
Johnston's army, about Greensboro, was pushed, it would "dis- 
perse," an event I wished to prevent. About that time he seems 
to have been sent from Washington to Richmond to command the 
new military Division of the James ; in assuming charge of which 
on the 22d, he defines the limits of his authority to be "the De- 
partment of Virginia, the Army of the Potomac, and such part 
of North Carolina as may not be occupied by the command of 
Major General Sherman." [See his General Orders, No. 1.] 
Four days later, April 26th, he reports to the Secretary that he 
had ordered Generals Meade, Sheridan and Wright, to invade that 
part of North Carolina which was occupied by my command, and 
"pay no regard to any truce or orders of mine." They were or- 
dered to " push forward, regardless of any orders, save those of 
Lieutenant General Grant, and cut off Johnston's retreat." He 
knew at the time he penned this dispatch that Johnston was not 
retreating, but was halted under a forty-eight hours truce with 
me, and was laboring to surrender his command and prevent it 
dispersing into guerilla bands ; that I had on the spot a mag- 
nificent army at my command, amply sufficient for all purposes 
required by the occasion. The plan of cutting off a retreat from 
the direction of Burkesville and Danville is hardly worthy of one 
of his military education and genius. 

When he contemplated an act so questionable as the violation 
of a truce made by a competent authority, he should have gone 
himself, and not have sent subordinates; for he knew I was 
bound in honor to defend and maintain my own truce and pledge of 
faith, even at the cost of many lives. When an officer pledges 
the faith of his Government, he is bound to defend it ; and he is 
no soldier who would violate.it knowingly. 

As to Davis and his stolen treasure, did General Halleck, as 
chief of staff, or commanding officer of the neighboring military 
division, notify me of the facts contained in his dispatch to the 
Secretary? No; he did not. If the Secretary of War wanted 



454 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Davis caught, why not order it, instead of, by publishing in the 
newspapers, putting him on his guard to hide away and escape ? 
No orders or intimation to arrest Davis or his stolen treasure 
ever came to me, but, on the contrary, I was led to believe that 
the Secretary of War rather preferred he should escape from the 
country, if it was made unknown to him. 

But, even on this point, I inclose a copy of my letter to Admi- 
ral Dahlgren, at Charleston, sent him by a fleet steamer from Wil- 
mington, on the 25th of April, two days before the bankers of 
Richmond had imparted to General Halleck the important secret 
of Davis' movements, designed, doubtless, to stimulate his troops 
to march their legs off to catch their treasure for their own use. 
I know that Admiral Dahlgren did receive my letter on the 26th, 
and had acted on it before General Halleck had even thought of 
the matter. But I don't believe a word of the treasure story; it 
is absurd on its face, and General Halleck, or anybody, has my 
full permission to chase Jeff. Davis and cabinet, with their stolen 
treasure, through any part of the country occupied by my 
command. 

The last and most obnoxious feature of General Halleck's dis- 
patch is where he goes out of his way, and advises that my sub- 
ordinates, Generals Thomas, Stoneman and Wilson, should be 
"instructed not to obey Sherman's commands." This is too 
much, and I turn from the subject with feelings too strong for 
words, and merely record my belief that so much mischief was 
never before embraced in so small a space as the newspaper para- 
graph headed, "Sherman's truce disregarded," authenticated 
as "official" by Mr. Secretary Stanton, and published in the 
newspapers of April 28th. 

During the night of May 2d, at Hilton Head, having concluded 
my business in the Department of the South, I began my return 
to meet my troops, then marching toward Richmond, from Raleigh. 
On the morning of May 3d, we ran into Charleston Harbor, where 
[ had the pleasure to meet Admiral Dahlgren, who had, in all my 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 455 

previous operations from Savannah northward, aided me with a 
courtesy and manliness that commanded my entire respect and 
deep affection. Also, General Hatch, who, from our first inter- 
view at the Tullifinny camp, had caught the spirit of the move 
from Pocataligo northward, and had largely contributed to our 
| joint success in taking Charleston and the Carolina coast. Any 
one who is not satisfied with the war, should go and see Charles- 
ton, and he will pray louder and deeper than ever that the country 
may, in the long future, be spared any more war. Charleston 
and secession being synonymous terms, the city should be left 
as a sample, so that centuries will pass away before that false 
doctrine is preached again in our Union. 

We left Charleston the evening of the 3d of May, and hastened 
j with all possible speed back to Morehead City, which we reached 
. at night of the 4th. I immediately communicated by telegraph 
J to General Schofield, at Raleigh, and learned from him the pleas- 
ing fact that the lieutenant general, commanding the armies of 
the United States, had reached the Chesapeake in time to coun- 
termand General Halleck's order, and prevent his violating my 
truce, invading the area of my command, and driving Johnston's 
surrendering army into fragments. General Johnston had ful- 
filled his agreement to the very best of his ability, and the officers 
charged with issuing the paroles, at Greensboro, reported about 
30,000 already made, and that the greater part of the North Caro- 
lina troops had gone home without waiting for their papers ; but 
that all of them would doubtless come in to some of the miltary 
posts, the commanders of which were authorized to grant them. 
About eight hundred of the rebel cavalry had gone South, re- 
fusing to abide the terms of the surrender, and it was supposed 
they would make for Mexico. I would sincerely advise that they 
be urged to go and stay. They would be a nuisance to any 
civilized government, whether loose or in prison. 

With the exception of some plundering on the part of Lee's 
and Johnston's disbanded men, all else was quiet. When, to the 



456 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

number of men surrendered at Greensboro, are added those at 
Tallahassee, Augusta and Macon, with the scattered squads who 
will come in at other military posts, I have no doubt full fifty 
thousand armed men will be disarmed and restored to civil pur- 
suits, by the application made near Durham Station, North Caro- 
lina, on the 26th of April, 1865, and that, too, without the loss of 
a single life to us. 

On the 5th of May, I received and here subjoin a further dis- 
patch from General Schofield, which contains inquiries I have 
been unable to satisfy, similar to those made by nearly every 
officer in my command, whose duty brings him into contact with 
citizens. I leave you to do what is expedient to provide the 
military remedy. 

[By telegraph from Ealeigh, North Carolina.] 

"Raleigh, N. C, May 5, 1865. 
"To Major General W. T. Sherman, Morehead City: 

" When General Grant was here, as you doubtless recollect, he 
said the lines had been extended to embrace this and other States 
South. The order, it seems, has been modified to include only 
Virginia and Tennessee. I think it would be an act of wisdom 
to open this State to trade at once. I hope the Government 
will make known its policy as to organizing State government 
without delay. Affairs must necessarily be in a very unsettled 
state until this is done. The people now are in a mood to accept 
almost anything which promises a definite settlement. What is 
to be done with the freedmen is the question of all, and it is the 
all-important question. It requires prompt and wise action to 
prevent the negro from becoming a huge elephant on our hands. 
If I am to govern this State, it is important for me to know it at 
once. If another is to be sent here, it cannot be done too soon, 
for he will probably undo the most that I shall have done. I 
shall be glad to hear from you fully, when you shall have time to 
write. I will send your message to General Wilson at once. 
(Signed) "J. M. SCHOFIELD, Major General." 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 457 

I give this dispatch, entire, to demonstrate how intermingled 
have become such matters with the military, and how almost im- 
possible it has become for an officer in authority to act a purely 
military part. There are no longer armed enemies in North Caro- 
lina, and a soldier can deal with no other sort. The marshal 
and sheriff, with their posses (of which the military may become 
a part), are the only proper officers to deal with civil criminals 
j and marauders. But I will not be drawn out into a discussion of 
i this subject, but instance this case to show how difficult the task 
has become to military officers, when men of the rank, education, 
j experience, nerve and good sense of General Schofield feel 
I embarrassed by them. 

General Schofield, at Raleigh, has a well-appointed and well- 
i disciplined command ; is in telegraphic communication with the 
I controlling posts in his department, and remoter ones in the 
I direction of Georgia, as well as with Washington, and has mili- 
| tary possession of all strategic points. In like manner, General 
\ Gillmore is well situated in all respects, except as to communica- 
tion with the seat of the General Government. I leave him, also, 
with every man he ever asked for, and in full and quiet posses- 
sion of every strategic point in his department. And General 
Wilson has, in the very heart of Georgia, the strongest, best- 
appointed and best-equipped cavalry corps that ever fell under my 
command ; and he has now, by my recent action, opened to him 
a source and route of supply, by way of the Savannah River, that 
simplifies his military problem. So that I think I may, with a 
clear conscience, leave them, and turn my attention once more to 
my special command, the army with which I have been associated 
through some of the most eventful scenes of this or any war. 

I hope, and believe, none of these commanders will ever have 

reason to reproach me for any " orders " they may have received 

] from me. And the President of the United States may be assured 

that all of them are now in position ready and willing to execute, 

to the letter, and in spirit, any orders he may give. I shall, 



458 

henceforth, cease to give them any orders at all, for the occasion 
that made them subordinate to me is passed, and I shall confine 
my attention to the army composed of the Fifteenth and Seven- 
teenth, the Fourteenth and Twentieth Corps, unless the com- 
manding general of the armies of the United States orders 
otherwise. 

At four o'clock in the afternoon of May 9th I reached Man- 
chester, on the James River, opposite Richmond, and found all 
the four corps had arrived from Raleigh, and were engaged in 
replenishing their wagons for the resumption of the march 
toward Alexandria. 

I have the honor to be your obedient servant, 
(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 

GENERAL SHERMAN'S EXAMINATION CONTINUED. 

Question. Did you have, near Fortress Monroe, a conference 
with President Lincoln, and, if so, about what time ? 

Answer. I met General Grant and Mr. Lincoln on board a 
steamboat lying at the wharf at City Point, during the evening 
of the 27th of March. I renewed my visit to the President, on 
board the same steamer, anchored in the stream, on the following 
day, General Grant being present on both occasions. 

Q. In tho^e conferences, was any arrangement made with you 
and General Grant, or either of you, in regard to the manner 
of arranging business with the Confederacy, or in regard to 
terms of peace ? 

A. Nothing definite ; it was simply a matter of general conver- 
sation ; nothing specific and definite. 

Q. At what time did you learn that President Lincoln had 
assented to the assembling of the Virginia rebel legislature ? 

A. I knew of it on the 18th of April, I think; but I procured 
a paper with the specific order of General Weitzel ; also, a copy 
of the Amnesty Proclamation on the 20th of April. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 459 

Q. You did not know, at that time, that the arrangement had 
been rescinded by the President ? 

A. No, sir ; I did not know of that until afterward ; the mo- 
ment I heard of that, I notified General Johnston of it. 

Q. Then at the time you entered into this arrangement with 
General Johnston, you knew that General Weitzel had approved 
of the calling together of the rebel Legislature of Virginia, by 
assent of the President? 

A. I knew of it by some source unofficially, and succeeded in 
getting a copy of the paper containing General Weitzel' s order 
on the 20th or 21st of April. 

Q. But ai the time of your arrangement you did not know that 
the order had been rescinded ? 

A. No sir ; I learned that several days afterward, and at once 
sent word to General Johnston. 

Q. At the time of your arrangement, you also knew of the 
surrender of Lee's army, and the terms of that surrender ? 

A. I had that officially from General Grant ; I got that at. 
Smithfield on the 12th of April. 

Q. I have here what purports to be a letter from you to John- 
ston, which seems to imply that you intended to make the 
arrangement on the terms of Lee's surrender. The letter is as 
follows: 

[Here follows General Sherman's published letter to Gen- 
eral Johnston, in reply to that general's first letter proposing a 
surrender. ] 

A. Those were the terms as to his own army ; but the con- 
cessions I made him were for the purpose of embracing other 
armies. 

Q. And the writings you signed were to include other armies ? 

A. The armies of Kirby Smith and Dick Taylor, so that after- 
ward no man within the limits of the Southern Confederacy could 
claim to belong to any Confederate army in existence. 

Q. The President addressed a note to General Grant, perhaps 
not to you, to the effect of forbidding officers of the army from 



460 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

entering into anything but strictly military arrangements, leaving 
civil matters entirely to him? 

A. 1 never saw such a paper, signed by President Lincoln. 
Mr. Stanton made such a paper, and says it was by President 
Lincoln's dictation. He made it to General Grant, but never to 
me. On the contrary, while I was in Georgia, Mr. Lincoln tele- 
graphed to me, encouraging me to discuss terms with Gov. Brown 
and Mr. Stephens. 

Q. Then you had no notice of that order of General Grant ? 

A. I had no knowledge of it, official or otherwise. 

Q. In the published report of your agreement, there is nothing 
said about slavery, I believe? 

A. There was nothing said about slavery, because it did not 
fall within the category of military questions, and we could not 
make it so. It was a legal question, which the President had dis- 
posed of, overriding all our action. We had to treat the slave as 
free, because our President, the commander-in-chief, said he was 
free. For me to have renewed the question, when that agree- 
ment was made, would have involved the absurdity of an inferior 
undertaking to qualify the work of his superior. 

Q. That was the reason why it was not mentioned ? 

A. Yes, sir. Subsequently I wrote a note to Johnston, stating 
that I thought it would be well to mention it for political effect, 
when we undertook to draw up the final terms with precision. It 
was written pending the time my memorandum was going to 
Washington, and before an answer had been returned. 

Q. At the time you entered into these negotiations, was 
Johnston in a condition to offer any effectual resistance to your 
army ? 

A. He could not have resisted my army an hour, if I could 
have got hold of him. But he could have escaped from me by 
breaking up into small parties and taking the country roads, 
traveling faster than any army could have pursued. 

Q. Then your object in negotiating was to keep his army from 
scattering into guerilla bands ? 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 461 

A. That was my chief object. I so officially notified the War 
Department. 

Q. And not because there was any doubt about the result of a 
battle ? 

A. There was no question as to the result, and I knew it ; every 
soldier knew it ; every man in North Carolina knew it. Johnston 
said, in the first five minutes of our conversation, that any fur- 
ther persistance on his part would be an act of folly, and all he 
wanted was to keep his army from dispersing. 

By Mr. Loan, — 

Q. In your examination by the Chairman, you stated that you 
were acting in pursuance of instructions from Mr. Lincoln, 
derived from his letters and telegrams at various times ? 

A. Yes sir. 

Q. Have you any of these letters and telegraphs which you 
can furnish to the committee ? 

A. I can furnish you a copy of a dispatch to General Halleck, 
from Atlanta, in which I stated that I had invited Governor Brown 
and Vice President Stephens to meet me, and I can give you a 
copy of Mr. Lincoln's answer, for my dispatch was referred to 
him, in which he said he felt much interested in my dispatch, and 
encouraged me to allow their visit. But the letter to which I re- 
fer specifically was a longer letter which I wrote to General 
Halleck from my camp on Big Black, Mississippi, at General 
Halleck's instigation, in September, 1863, which was received in 
Washington, and submitted to Mr. Lincoln, who desired to have 
it published, to which I would not consent. In that letter I gave 
my opinions, fully and frankly, not only on the military situation, 
but also the civil policy necessary. Mr. Lincoln expressed him- 
self highly pleased with my views, and desired to make them 
public, but I preferred not to do so. 

Q. And by subsequent acts he induced you to believe he 
approved of those views ? 



462 MAJ. GEN. W. T. 

A. I know he approved of them, and always encouraged me 
to carry out those views. 

By the Chairman, — 

Q. The following is a letter published in the newspapers, pur- 
porting to have been addressed to you by Johnston, dated April 
21, 1865: 

[Here follows the published letter of General Sherman, dated 
Raleigh, April 21, 18G5. ] 

Q. That is the letter in which you say that it would be well to 
declare publicly that slavery is dead ? 

A. Yes sir ; that is the letter. 

By Mr. Loan, — 

Q. Will you furnish the committee a copy of the letters 
written by you to Mr. Stanton, in January last, from Savannah ? 

A. I will do so. 

The Chairman, — 

And when the manuscript of your testimony is prepared, it will 
be submitted to you for revision, and you can add to it any 
statement or papers that you may desire, or consider neces- 
sary. 



I have revised the above, and now subjoin copies of letters 
from my letter-book, in the order of their bearing, on the 
questions raised by this inquiry. 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, "| 

in the Field, Raleigh, J- 

North Carolina, April 18, 1865. J 

Lieutenant General IT. S. Grant, or Major General Halleck, 

Washington, D. C. : 

General — I inclose herewith a copy of an agreement made 
this day between General Joseph E. Johnston and myself, which, 
if approved by the President of the United States, will produce 
peace from the Potomac to the Rio Grande. Mr. Breckinridge 
was present at our conference in the capacity of Major General, 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 463 

and satisfied me of the ability of General Johnston to carry out, 
to the full extent the terms of this agreement, and if you will get 
the President to simply indorse tiie copy and commission me to 
carry out the terms, I will follow them to the conclusion. 

You will observe that it is an absolute submission of the enemy 
to the lawful authority of the United States, and disperses his 
armies absolutely ; and the point to which I attach most impor- 
tance is, that the dispersion and disbandment of these armies is 
done in such a manner as to prevent their breaking up into gue- 
rilla bands On the other hand, we can retain just as much of 
our army as we please. I agreed to the mode and manner of the 
surrender of arms set forth, as it gives the States the means of 
suppressing guerillas, which we could not expect them to do if 
we stripped them of all arms. 

Both Generals Johnston and Breckinridge admitted that slavery 
was dead, and I could not insist on embracing it in such a paper, 
because it can be made with the States in detail. I know that all 
men of substance South sincerely want peace, and I do not believe 
they will resort to war again during this century. 

I have no doubt but that they will, in the future, be perfectly 
submissive to the laws of the United States. The moment my 
action in this matter is approved, I can spare five (5) corps, and 
will ask for orders to leave General Schofield here with the Tenth 
Corps, and to march myself with the Fourteenth, Fifteenth, Sev- 
enteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-third Corps, via Burkesville and 
Gordonsville to Frederick or Hagerstown, and there be paid and 
mustered out. 

The question of finance is now the chief one, and every soldier 
and officer not needed should be got home at work. I would like 
to begin the march North by May 1st. 

I urge, on the part of the President, speedy action, as it is im- 
portant to get the Confederate armies to their homes, as well as 
our own. 

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
(Signed,) W.T.SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 



} 



464 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 18, 1865. 

General H. W. Halleok, Chief of Staff, Washington, D. C: 

General — I received your dispatch describing the man, Clark, 
detailed to assassinate me. He had better be in a hurry, or he 
■will be too late. 

The news of Mr. Lincoln's death produced a most intense 
effect on our troops. At first, I feared it would lead to excesses, 
but now it has softened down, and can easily be guided. None 
evinced more feeling than General Johnston, who admitted that 
the act was calculated to stain his cause with a dark hue, and he 
contended that the loss was most serious to the South, who had 
begun to realize that Mr. Lincoln was the best friend the South 
had. 

I cannot believe that even Mr. Davis was privy to the diabolical 
plot, but think it the emanation of a set of young men at the 
South, who are very devils. I want to throw upon the South the 
care of this class of men, who will soon be as obnoxious to their 
industrial classes as to us. 

Had I pushed Johnston's army to an extremity, it would have 
dispersed and done infinite mischief. Johnston informed me 
that General Stoneman had been at Salisbury, and was now about 
Statesville. I have sent him orders to come to me. General 
Johnston also informed me that General Wilson was at Columbus, 
Georgia, and he wanted me to arrest his progress. I leave that 
to you. 

Indeed, if the President sanctions my agreement with John- 
ston, our interest is to cease all destruction. 

Please give all orders necessary, according to the views the 
Executive may take, and influence him, if possible, not to vary 
the terras at all, for I have considered everything, and believe 
that, the Confederate armies once dispersed, we can adjust all 
else fairly and well. I am yours, etc., 

(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 465 

Liest confusion should result to the mind of the committee, by 
the latter part of the above letter, I state it was addressed to 
General Halleck, as chief of staff, when he was the proper 
"maker of orders" to the commander-in-chief. The whole case 
changed when, on the 26th of April, he became the commander 
of the separate Division of the James. 

As stated in my testimony, General Grant reached Raleigh on 
the 24th, On the 25th, on the supposition that I would start next 
day to chase Johnston's army, I wrote him the following letter, 
delivered in person : 

Head-Quarters Division of the Mississippi,! 

In the Field, [■ 

Raleigh, N. C, April 25, 1865. J 

Lieutenant General U. S. Grant, Present : 

General — I had the honor to receive your letter of April 21st, 
with inclosures, yesterday, and was well pleased that you came 
along, as you must have observed that I held the military control 
so as to adapt it to any phase the case might assume. 

It is but just I should record the fact that I made my terms 
with General Johnston under the influence of the liberal terms 
you extended to the army of General Lee, at Appomattox Court 
House, on the 9th, and the seeming policy of our Government, as 
evinced by the call of the Virginia Legislature and Governor 
back to Richmond, under yours and President Lincoln's very 
eyes. It now appears the last, act was done without any consul- 
tation with you, or any knowledge of Mr. Lincoln, but rather in 
opposition to a previous policy, well conducted. 

I have not the least desire to interfere in the civil policy of our 
Government, but would shun it as something not to my liking ; 
but occasions do arise when a prompt seizure of results is forced 
on military commanders not in immediate communication with 
the proper authority. It is probable that the terms signed by 
\ General Johnston and myself were not clear enough on the point 
well understood between us, that our negotiations did not apply 



466 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

to any parties outside the officers and men of the Confederate 
armies — which could easily have been remedied. 

No surrender of any army, not actually at the mercy of an an- 
tagonist, was ever made without "terms," and these always 
define the military status of the surrendered. Thus, you stipu- 
lated that the officers and men of Lee's army should not be mo- 
lested at their homes, so long as they obeyed the laws at the 
place of their residence. I do not wish to discuss those points 
involved in our recognition of the State government in actual 
existence, but will merely state my conclusions, to await the 
solution of the future. 

Such action, on our part, in no manner recognizes for a moment 
the so-called Confederate Government, or makes us liable for its 
debts or acts. 

The laws and acts done by the several States, during the period 
of rebellion, are void, because done without the oath prescribed 
by our Constitution of the United States, which is a "condition 
precedent." 

We have a right to use any sort of machinery to produce mili- 
tary results, and it is the commonest thing for military comman- 
ders to use the civil governments, in actual existence, as a means to 
an end. 1 do believe we could and can use the present State 
governments lawfully, constitutionally, and as the very best 
possible means to produce the object desired, viz: entire and 
complete submission to the lawful authorities of the United 
<3tates. 

As to punishment for past crimes, that is for the judiciary, and 
can in no manner or way be disturbed by our acts ; and, so far as 
I can, I will use my influence, that rebels shall suffer all the per- 
sonal punishment prescribed by law, as also civil liabilities 
arising from their past acts. 

What we now want is the mere form of law, by which common 
men may regain the positions of industry so long disturbed by 
the war. 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 467 

I now apprehend that the rebel armies will disperse, and in- 
stead of dealing with six or seven States, will have to deal with 
numberless bands of desperadoes, headed by such men as Mosby, 
Forrest, Red Jackson, and others, who know not, and care not 
for danger and its consequences. 

I am, with great respect, your obedient servant, 
(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General. 

On the same day I wrote and mailed to the Secretary of War 

the following : 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, *) 
In the Field, Raleigh, N. C, April 27, 1865. J 

Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, Washington : 

Sir — I have been furnished a copy of your letter of April 21st, 
to General Grant, signifying your disapproval of the terms in 
which General Johnston proposed to disarm and disperse the 
insurgents, on condition of amnesty, etc. I admit my folly in 
embracing in a military convention any civil matters, but, unfor- 
tunately, such is the nature of our situation, that they seem inex- 
plicably united, and I understood from you at Savannah that the 
financial state of the country demanded military success, and 
would warrant a little heeding to policy. 

When 1 had my conference with General Johnston, I had the 
public examples before me of General Grant's terms to Lee's army 
and of General Weitzel's invitation to the Virginia Legislature to 
assemble. 

I still believe the General Government of the United States 
made a mistake ; but that is none of my business. Mine is a 
different task, and I had flattered myself that by four years of 
patient, unremitting and successful labor, I deserved no reminder 
such as is contained in the last paragraph of your letter to 
General Grant. You may assure the President that I heed his 
suggestion. I am, truly, etc., • 

(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 



468 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

The last sentence refers to the fact that General Grant had 
been sent to Raleigh to direct military movements. That was the 
first time in my life I had ever had a word of reproof from the 
Government of the United States, and I was naturally sensitive. 
But all I said to any one was to General Meigs, who came with 
General Grant, that it was not kind on the part of Mr. Secretary 
Stanton. The fact, however, did not qualify my military conduct. 
The final interview with General Johnston followed, and the 
terms of capitulation were agreed on and signed, and General 
Grant started for Washington, bearing the news, when, on the 
28th of April, I received in the New York Times the most extra- 
ordinary budget of Mr. Stanton, which, for the first time, startled 
me, and I wrote to General Grant this letter : 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ~) 
In the Field, April 28, 1865. J 

Lieutenant General U. S. Grant, General-in-Chief, Washington, 
D. C: 

General — Since you left me yesterday, I have seen the New 
York Times of the 24th instant, containing a budget of military 
news, authorized by the signature of the Secretary of War, which 
is grouped in such a way as to give very erroneous impressions. 
It embraces a copy of the basis of agreement between myself 
and General Johnston, of April 18th, with commentaries which it 
will be time enough to discuss two or three years hence, after 
the Government has experienced a little more in the machinery 
by which power reaches the scattered people of the vast country 
known as the South. But, in the mean time, I do think that my 
rank (if not my past services) entitled me, at least, to the respect 
of keeping secret what was known to none but the Cabinet, until 
further inquiry could be made, instead of giving publicity to 
documents I never saw, and drawing inferences wide of the 
truth. 

I never saw or had furnished to me a copy of Mr. Stanton's dis- 
patch to you, of the 3d of March, nor did Mr. Stanton or any 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 469 

human being ever convey to me its substance, or anything like it; 
but, on the contrary, I had seen General Weitzel's invitation to 
the Virginia Legislature, made in Mr. Lincoln's very presence, 
and I had failed to discover any other official hint, or any ideas 
calculated to allay the fears of the people of the South, after the 
destruction of their armies and civil authorities would leave 
them without any civil government at all. We should not drive 
a people into anarchy, and it is simply impossible for our military 
power to reach all the masses of their unhappy country. 

I confess I did not want to drive General Johnston's army into 
bands of armed men, going about without purpose, and capable 
only of infinite mischief. But you saw, on your arrival at Ra- 
leigh, that I had my armies so disposed that his escape was only 
possible in a disorganized shape ; and as you did not choose to 
direct military operations in this quarter, I infer that you were 
satisfied with the military situation. At all events, as soon as I 
learned, what was proper enough, the disapproval of the Presi- 
dent, I acted in such a manner as to compel the surrender of 
General Johnston's whole army on the same terms as you had 
prescribed to General Lee's army, when you had it surrounded 
and in your absolute power. 

Mr. Stanton, in stating that my orders to General Stoneman 
would likely result in the escape of " Mr. Davis to Mexico or 
Europe," is in deep error. General Stoneman was not at Salis- 
bury then, but had gone back to Statesville. Davis was supposed 
to be between us, and Stoneman was beyond him. By turning 
toward me he was approaching Davis, and had he joined me, as 
ordered, I then would have had a mounted force, needed for that 
and other purposes. But even now, I don't know that Mr. Stan- 
ton wants Davis caught ; and as my official papers, deemed sacred, 
are hastily published to the world, it will be imprudent for me to 
state what has been done in that respect. 

As the editor of the Times has (it may be) logically and fairly 
drawn the inference from this singular document that I am in- 
subordinate, I oan only deny the intention. I have never in my 

N* 



470 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

life questioned or disobeyed an order, though, many and many a 
time have I risked my life, my health and reputation in obeying 
orders, or even hints, to execute plans and purposes not to my 
liking. It is not fair to withhold from me plans and policy (if 
any there be ), and expect me to guess at them, for facts and 
events appear quite different from different stand points. For 
four years I have been in camp, dealing with soldiers, and I can 
assure you that the conclusions at which the Cabinet arrived with 
such singular unanimity, differ from mine. I conferred freely 
with the best officers in this army as to points involved in this 
controversy, and, strange to say, they were singularly unanimous 
in the other conclusion, and they will learn with pain and sorrow 
that I am deemed insubordinate and wanting in common sense. 
I, who have labored day and night, winter and summer, for four 
years, and have brought an army of 70,000 men, in magnificent 
condition, across a country deemed impassable, and placed it just 
where it was wanted, almost on the day appointed, have brought 
discredit on the Government. 

I do not wish to boast of this, but I do say that it entitled me 
to the courtesy of being consulted before publishing to the world 
a proposition rightfully submitted to higher authority for adjudi- 
cation, and then accompanied by statements which invited the 
press to be let loose upon me. 

It is true that non-combatants — men who sleep in comfort and 
security while we watch on the distant lines — are better able to 
judge than we poor soldiers, who rarely see a newspaper, hardly 
can hear from our families, or stop long enough to get our pay. 
I envy not the task of reconstruction, and am delighted that the 
Secretary has relieved me of it. 

As you did not undertake to assume the management of the 
affairs of this army, I infer that, on personal inspection, your 
mind arrived at a different conclusion from that of Mr. Secretary 
Stanton. I will, therefore, go on and execute your orders to the 
conclusion, and when done, will, with intense satisfaction, leave 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 471 

to the civil authorities the execution of the task of which they 
seem to be so jealous ; but, as an honest man and soldier, I in- 
vite them to follow my path, for they may see some things there — 
some things that may disturb their philosophy. 

With sincere respect, 
(Signed) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 

P. S. As Mr. Stanton's singular paper has been published, I 
demand that this also be made public, though I am in no manner 
responsible to the press, but to the law and my proper superiors. 

W. T. SHERMAN, 
Major General Commanding. 

Since my arrival at Washington I have learned from General 
Grant that this letter was received, but he preferred to withhold 
it until my arrival, as he knew I was marching towards Wash- 
ington with my army. Upon my ai'rival, I did not insist on its 
publication till it was drawn out by this inquiry. I also append 
here the copy of a letter from Colonel T. S. Bowers, Assistant 
Adjutant General, asking me to modify my report as to the point 
of perfidy in violating my truce, with my answer : 

" Head-Quarters, Armies of the United States, ") 
Washington, May 25, 1865. J 

"Major General W. T. Sherman, Commanding Military Division 
of the Mississippi : 

" General Grant directs me to call your attention to the part 
of your report in which the necessity of maintaining your truce 
at the expense of many lives is spoken of. The general thinks 
that, in making a truce, the commander of an army can control 
only his own army, and that the hostile general must make his 
own arrangements with other armies acting against him. 

" While independent generals, acting against a common foe, 
would naturally act in concert, the general deems that each must 
be the judge of his own duty and responsible for its execution. 



172 

"If you should wish, the report will be returned, for auj 
change you may deem best. 

" Very respectfully your obedient servant, 
(Signed) g »T. S. BOWERS, 

" Assistant Adjutant General." 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi,") 
Washington, May 26, 1865. j 

Col. T. S. Bowers, Assistant Adjutant General, Washington, D. C: 
Colonel — I had the honor to receive your letter of March 
25th, last evening, and I hasten to answer. I wish to precede it 
by renewing the assurance of my entire confidence and respect 
for the President and Lieutenant General Grant, and that in all 
matters I will be most willing to shape my oflicial and private 
conduct to suit their wishes. The past is beyond my control, 
and the matters embraced in the official report, to which you 
refer, are finished. It is but just that the reasons that actuated 
me, right or wrong, should stand on record, but in all future 
cases, should any arise, I will respect the decision of General 
Grant, though I think it wrong. 

Supposing a guard has prisoners in charge, and officers of 
another command should aim to rescue or kill them, is it not 
clear the guard must defend the prisoners ? Same of a safe- 
guard. So jealous is the military law to protect and maintain 
good faith when pledged, that the law adjudges death, and no 
alternative punishment, to one who violates a safe-guard in 
foreign ports. [ See Article of War, No. 55. ] For murder, 
arson, treason and the highest military crimes, the punishment 
prescribed by law is death, or some minor punishment, but for 
the violation of a safe-guard, death, and death alone, is the pre- 
scribed penalty. I instance this to illustrate how, in military 
stipulations to an enemy, our Government commands and enforces 
good faith. In discussing this matter, I would like to refer to 
many writers on military law, but am willing to take Halleck as 
the test. [See his chapter 27.] In the very first article he 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 473 

states that good faith should always be observed between enemies 
in war, because, when our faith has been pledged to him, so far 
as our promise extends, he ceases to be our enemy. He then de- 
fines the meaning of compacts and conventions, and says they are 
made sometimes for a general or a partial suspension of hostili- 
ties, "for the surrender of an army," etc. They may be special, 
limited to particular places or particular forces, but, of course, 
can only bind the armies subject to the general who makes the. 
truce, and coextensive only with the extent of his command. 
This is all I have claimed, and clearly covers the whole case. 
All of North Carolina was in my immediate command, with Gen- 
eral Schofield, its department commander, and his army present 
with me. I never asked the truce to have efi°ect beyond my own 
territorial command. General Halleck himself, in his order 
No. 1, defines his own limits clearly enough, viz: "Such part 
of North Carolina as was not occupied by the command of Major 
General Sherman." He could not pursue and cut off Johnston's 
retreat towards Salisbury' and Charlotte without invading my 
command, and so potent was his purpose to defy and violate my 
truce, that Mr. Stanton's publication of the fact, not even yet re- 
called, modified, or explained, was headed "Sherman's truce 
disregarded," that the whole world drew but one inference. It 
admits of no other. I never claimed that that truce bound Gen- 
erals Halleck or Canby within the sphere of their respective 
commands, as defined by themselves. 

It was a partial truce, of very short duration, clearly within 
my limits and right, justified by events; and, as in the case of 
prisoners in my custody, or the violation of a safe-guard given 
by me in my own territorial limits, I was bound to maintain 
good faith. 

I prefer not to change my report ; but again repeat, that in all 
future cases, I am willing to be governed by the interpretation 
of General Grant, although I again invite his attention to the 
limits of my command and those of General Halleck at the time, 



474 

and the pointed phraseology of General Halleck's dispatch to 
Mr. Stanton, wherein he reports that he had ordered his generals 
to pay no heed to my orders within the clearly-defined area of 
my command. I am, etc., 

(Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General U. S. A., Commanding. 

I now add the dispatch from Atlanta, mentioned in the body 
of my testimony, with Mr. Lincoln's answer : 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, ") 

In the Field, L 

Atlanta, Ga., September 15, 1864. J 

General Halleck, Washington, D. C. : 

My report is done, and will be forwarded as soon as I get a 
few more of the subordinate reports. I am awaiting a courier 
from General Grant. All well, and troops in fine, healthy camps, 
and supplies coming forward finely. 

Governor Brown has disbanded his militia, to gather the corn 
and sorghum of the State. I have reason to believe that he and 
Stephens want to visit me, and I have sent them a hearty 
invitation. 

I will exchange 2,0^0 prisoners with Hood, but no more. 

(Signed,) W. T. SHERMAN, 

Major General Commanding. 



"Washington, D. C, 10 A. M., "» 
September 17, 1864. J 

"Major General Sherman: 

" I feel great interest. in the subjects of your dispatch, men- 
tioning corn and sorghum, and contemplate a visit to you. 

(Signed,) "A. LINCOLN, 

" President United States." 

I have not possession here of all my official records, most of 
which are out West, and I have selected the above from my more 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 475 

recent letter-books, and offer them to show how prompt and full 
have been my official reports, and how unnecessary was all the 
clamor made touching my actions and opinions, at the time the 
basis of agreement, of April 18th, was submitted to the President. 
All of which is most respectfully submitted. 

W. T. SHERMAN, 
Major General United States Army. 

SHERMAN'S FAREWELL TO HIS ARMY. 

Head-Quarters Military Division of the Mississippi, "l 
In the Field, Washington, May 80, 1865. / 

Special Field Orders No. 76. 

The general commanding announces to the Armies of the Ten- 
nessee and Georgia that the time has come for us to part. Our 
work is done, and armed enemies no longer defy us. Some of 
you will be retained in the service until further orders, and now 
that we are about to separate, to mingle with the civil world, it 
becomes a pleasing duty to recall to mind the situation of national 
affairs, when but little more than a year ago we were gathered 
about the towering cliffs of Lookoul Mountain, and all the future 
was wrapped in doubt and uncertainty; three armies had come 
together from different fields, with separate histories, bound 
together by one common cause — the union of our country and 
the government of our inheritance. There is no need to recall to 
your memories Tunnel Hill, with its rocky-faced mountain, and 
Buzzard Roost Gap, with the ugly forts of Dalton behind. We 
were in earnest, and paused not for danger and difficulty, but 
dashed through Snake Creek Gap and fell on Resaca ; then on to 
Dallas, Kenesaw, and the heats of summer found us on the 
banks of the Chattahoochee, far from home and dependent on a 
single line for supplies. Again, we were not to be held back by 
any obstacle, and crossed over and fought four heavy battles for 
the possession of the citadel of Atlanta. 

That was the crisis of our history. A doubt still clouded our 
future, but we solved the problem, and destroyed Atlanta, struck 



4 ?6 MAJ. GEN. W. T. SHERMAN, 

boldl, across the State of Georgia, severed all the main arterie. 
of hfe to our enemy, and Christmas found us at Savannah 
Waiting there only long enough to fill our wagons, we again 
began a march which, for peril, labor and results, will compare 
with any ever made by an organized army. The floods of the 
Savannah, the swamps of the Combahee and Edisto; the hi«* 
hills and rocks of the Santee ; the flat quagmires of the Pedee 
and Cape Fear Rivers were all passed in midwinter, with its 
floods and rains, in the face of an accumulating enemy, and after 
the battles of Averysboro and Bentonville, we once more came 
out of the wilderness to meet our friends at Goldsboro. Even 
there we paused only long enough to get new clothing, to reload 
our wagons, and again pushed on to Raleigh and beyond, until 
we met the enemy, sueing for peace instead of war, and offering 
to submit to the injured laws of his and our country. 

As long as that enemy was defiant, not rivers, nor mountains, 
nor swamps, nor hunger, nor cold had checked us, but when he 
who had fought us hard and persistently offered submission, your 
general thought it wrong to pursue him further, and negotiations 
followed, which resulted, as you know, in his surrender How 
far the operations of the army have contributed to the overthrow 
of the Confederacy and the peace which now dawns on us must 
be judged by others, not by us, but that you have done all that 
men could do, has been admitted by those in authority, and we 
have a right to join in the universal joy that fills our land be- 
cause the war is over, and our Government stands vindicated 
before the world by the joint action of the volunteer armies of 
the United States. 

To such as remain in the military service, your general need 
only remind you that the successes in the past are due to hard 
work and discipline, and that the same work and discipline are 
equally important in the future. To such as go home, he will 
only say that our favored country is so grand, so extensive, so 
diversified in climate, soil and productions, that every man can 



AND HIS CAMPAIGNS. 477 

find a home and occupation suited to his tastes, and none should 
yield to the natural impotence sure to result from our past life 
of excitement and adventure. You will be invited to seek new 
adventures abroad; but do not yield to the temptation, for it will 
lead only to death and disappointment. 

Your general now bids you all farewell, with the full belief 
that, as in war you have been good soldiers, so in peace you will 
make good citizens ; and if, unfortunately, a new war should 
arise in our country, Sherman's army will be the first to buckle 
on the old armor and come forth to defend and maintain the 
Government of our inheritance and choice. 

By order of Major General "W. T. Sherman. 

(Signed) M. DAYTON, 

Assistant Adjutant General. 



As. 




HENRY M. SHERWOOD, 

Jf A Wrml niDTm*i<. .. . 



MANUFACTURER AND DEALER IN 




Office, No. 21 Lombard Block, { nSfcffi,* \ Chicago, 111. 




SCHOOL DESKS AND SEATS, 

OF ALL STZws tat 1™^™,,- -~™„ ■ W f 



SCHOOL APPARATTTsj 
GLOBES, of all Sizes and Styles; Outline Maps, Charts, &c. 




Patented Mareh 16th, 1864, 

BV EtBBBT PlCBOK. 








No. 1 — Primary Basket Arm Chair. 




No. 26 — Teacher's Desk, with Two Drawers and 
Deep Tray. 




Wo. 29 — Teacher's Desk, with Eight Drawers. 



G>. & H. M. SHERWOOD'S 

PATENT INK WELL FOR SCHOOLS. 




Explanation.— -Fig. 1 represents a top view of the cover. Fig. 2, a top view of the well without 
the cover. Fig. 3, a hottom view of the cover. Fig. 4, an edge view of the cover. Fig. 5, a view.of 
the well complete. Fig. 6, a key to screw on and unscrew cover. 

The ahove cuts represent the best school ink well in use. It is neat, convenient, cheap 
and durable. 

The iron well. (Fig. 2,) when fastened to the desk by two common screws, never has to be re 
moved. Into this is set a glass well to hold the ink. This glass only has to be taken out to 
clean the well. 

The cover, (Fig. 4,) is easily fastened to the well by a single turn of the key, and when fastened 
can only be removed with the key, which should be kept by the teacher or janitor. (It will not bo 
necessary to remove the cover oftener than the well needs cleaning.) 

The pen hole is covered by a small cap, turning horizontally, as seen in Fig. 5. 

By this simple arrangement, we have a well that cannot get out of order. It will not corrode. 
It cannot upset. It cannot be made noisy by turning on or off the cap. It cannot burst and 
spill the ink ; nor can it be removed and lust by the pnpils.t* f\ — ^ 

It can be used in the holes made for other wells. A %7 Q Q ■ — 

It is economical, as the expenditure for each pupil, (where double desks are uset^ is less than 
fifteen cents for his whole school-going time. 

Price of Ink Wells — per dozen, $3.50; necessary keys furnished gratis. 
Address 

HENEY M. SHERWOOD, 

No. 21 Lombard Block, «-{ Kretd - offlce ofthe } CMCAGO.ILL 



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